THE WESTMINSTER NEW TESTAMENT 
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 
 
 ST. JOHN 
 
 AUTHORISED VERSION 
 
1 HE WESTMINSTER NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 (iENERAL Editor 
 ALFRED E. GARVIE, M.A. (Oxon.), D.D. (Glas.) 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF NEW COLLEGE, LONDON 
 
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 
 
 ST. JOHN 
 
 AUTHORISED VERSION 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 By Rev. HENRY W. CLARK 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE PHILOSOPHY OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE 
 
 •' THE CHRIST FROM WITHOUT AND WITHIN " 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. R e v e 1 1 C o m p a n y 
 
 London and Edinburgh 
 
PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR 
 
 Having carefully selected the editors of the ten 
 volumes of which the Westminster New Testament 
 will consist, and having fully explained to them 
 the purpose of the series, the General Editor is 
 leaving them the greatest possible liberty ; and the 
 editor of each volume is alone responsible for the 
 opinions expressed in it. It is hoped that thus 
 any lack of uniformity will be amply compensated 
 for by the varied interest w^hich the free expression 
 of his own individuality by each editor will impart 
 to the series. While the standpoint adopted is 
 that of modern critical scholarship, only the 
 generally accepted results, and not the vagaries of 
 individual critics are being presented, and in such 
 a fashion as to avoid unnecessarily giving any 
 offence or causing any difficulty to the reverent 
 Bible student. As the series is intended especially 
 for teachers, lay preachers, and others engaged 
 in Christian work, their needs are being kept 
 particularly in view, and the Commentary aims at 
 being as practically useful as possible. A new 
 arrangement in printing the text and the notes 
 has been adopted, which it is believed will be found 
 an improvement. 
 
 A. E. GARVIE. 
 
 New College, London, 
 August i^ih, 1907. 
 
THE 
 
 WESTMINSTER NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST, JOHN 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I. THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Perhaps a discussion of the problem of the Fourth 
 Gospel's authorship should commence with an 
 assurance that the question is one which no inquirer 
 need be afraid to face. It has of course been hotly 
 debated : perhaps no problem of New Testament 
 criticism has engaged the attention of so many 
 scholars or been discussed with such eager interest : 
 and yet it is not a specially difficult task to marshal 
 the evidence and to form some opinion as to which 
 side can claim the preponderating weight. Pro- 
 bably the importance of the matter — the con- 
 sequences which may follow for other questions 
 than the question of authorship itself — will in large 
 part account for the interest which the problem has 
 roused. For important the matter certainly is. 
 In the Fourth Gospel^ as our study of it will show 
 us, is found the most explicit and (as most would 
 say) unevadable claim for the absolute divinity of 
 I 
 
2 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Jesus that is anywhere made ; and this claim is 
 based upon sayings and doings of His which are, 
 according to the book's own announcement, 
 recorded by one who heard and saw. Usually, 
 therefore, an acceptance of the authenticity of the 
 Gospel is accompanied by an acceptance of the 
 doctrine of the special divinity of Jesus ; and a 
 rejection of the authenticity of the Gospel — if it 
 does not necessitate a rejection of the doctrine — at 
 any rate implies the loss of one of the doctrine's 
 chief supports. The purely critical question and 
 the doctrinal question are, if not actually bound 
 up together, at least very closely related. Dr. 
 Drummond, it is true, does hold to the Johannine 
 authorship of the book, and yet deny the historical 
 character of much that it contains ; i but in this he 
 stands very nearly alone. This much would at 
 least be said by the majority of students — that so 
 long as the Gospel keeps its place, you have first- 
 hand testimony to a life which proclaims Him who 
 lived it to have been the Son of God. And this 
 close connection between the question of the 
 Gospel's authorship and the question of the true 
 view of Jesus Christ goes far to account for the 
 interest which the critical problem has for many 
 years past never ceased to arouse. 
 
 But, in itself, the problem of the authorship 
 of the book is, as we shall presently see when the 
 evidence is marshalled, not too complex for any 
 earnest mind to grapple with. It is quite true that 
 in this question, as in all questions of the kind, the 
 issue depends upon a balance of probabilities at 
 last. But he who weighs the testimony carefully 
 
 ^ The Character and Authorship of the Fourth Gospel. 
 By James Drummond, D.D, 
 
St. John 3 
 
 will be able to come to a conclusion, and need not 
 be left wandering as in a maze, feeling that he is 
 no nearer to finding the centre at the end of his 
 labours than he was when he set out. There is a 
 dipping of the scale sufficiently pronounced to lead 
 to a verdict — a dipping of the scale which is as 
 decided in the case of the Fourth Gospel's author- 
 ship as in almost any other question that human 
 thought has to weigh. 
 
 If, now, we approach the matter of authorship 
 with clear minds, unpossessed by prejudice 
 in favour of any particular theory, and at the 
 same time confident that an ordinarily simple 
 method of investigation will suffice for the attain- 
 ment of a definite result, what course shall we 
 adopt ? The first point to be settled, surely, is the 
 account which the book gives of itself. What 
 does it say or imply concerning the writer from 
 whose pen it came ? That inquiry is the obvious 
 starting-point, and to that inquiry we will now 
 give the brief reply which is all it needs. 
 
 1. The Gospel's claim concerning its 
 authorship. Although no definite statement is 
 anywhere made, yet the twenty-first chapter 
 practically shuts us up to the conclusion that the 
 Gospel itself declares John to have penned it. 
 The writer, it is said in verse 24, was "the 
 disciple whom Jesus loved," and this disciple was 
 one of the group standing round Jesus while the 
 conversation recorded in the chapter was carried 
 on. This group, we learn from verse 2, consisted 
 of " Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and 
 Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of 
 Zebedee, and two other of his disciples." The 
 
4 Westminster New Testament 
 
 only disciples to whom the title of the " disciple 
 whom Jesus loved " could be applied (except on 
 the theory to be presently dealt with) are Peter 
 and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John ; for 
 the other three Gospels show these men to have 
 stood in a peculiarly intimate relation to Jesus ; 
 and, indeed, no one has suggested that either 
 Thomas or Nathanael could answer to the name. 
 So far, then, Peter, James, and John are left to us 
 for our choosing. Peter, however, drops out, 
 inasmuch as he is expressly differentiated from 
 the beloved disciple in verse 20 and in other 
 places ; ^ and James was killed so early in the 
 Church's history that the Gospel could not have 
 come from his pen. The process of elimination 
 thus complete, we are left with John as the disciple 
 whom Jesus loved, and consequently as the author 
 of the book. That John was the beloved disciple 
 was, it should be added, the unanimous tradition of 
 the Christian Church from the earliest times. 
 
 The only way in which this conclusion as to the 
 Gospel's distinct assertion of its own Johannine 
 authorship can be evaded is by suggesting that 
 the beloved disciple need not have been one of the 
 inner apostolic circle at all, and that one of the 
 " two other disciples " referred to in verse 2 may 
 have written the book. It is, in fact, on this point 
 that a great deal of discussion has centred ; and in 
 order to reconcile the general ascription of the 
 Fourth Gospel to an author named John with this 
 hypothesis, another John, ^^ John the Presbyter," 
 has been looked upon as the possible writer. The 
 theory is that this other John was one of the two 
 disciples mentioned in verse 2, and that in after 
 1 13. 23, 24, for instance. 
 
St. John 5 
 
 years he lived in Ephesus and wrote the Gospel, 
 finally becoming confused in the mind of the Church 
 with John the Apostle, an inhabitant of the same 
 city. This theory has been most elaborately drawn 
 out by Dr. Delff of Husum. A modified, or rather 
 a more extreme, form of the theory denies that 
 the Apostle John ever lived in Ephesus at all — 
 which form of the theory seems, however, to make 
 matters more difficult rather than easier, inasmuch 
 as it removes any reason for the confusion alleged 
 to have taken place. Harnack holds, as a sort 
 of possible intermediate view, that the Apostle, 
 although not an inhabitant of the city, visited and 
 was known within Asian borders. In any case, the 
 essential points are that the beloved disciple is 
 supposed to have been John the Presbyter, and 
 that this man wrote the Gospel commonly ascribed 
 to the Apostle's pen. 
 
 One consideration appears to be final. The 
 Fourth Gospel tells us that at the Last Supper 
 the disciple whom Jesus loved leant upon His 
 breast ; and the Fourth Gospel is at one with the 
 Synoptics |in declaring that the twelve Apostles 
 were the Master's companions there, no sign being 
 given of the presence of anyone else. The language 
 of Matthew (26. 20), " He was sitting at meat 
 with the twelve disciples," — of Mark (14. 17), "He 
 Cometh with the twelve," — and of Luke (22. 14), 
 " He sat down, and the apostles with him," — seems 
 to point to the fact of Jesus having been alone with 
 the Twelve. It is in the ranks of the Twelve, there- 
 fore, that the beloved disciple, the author of our 
 book, must be sought. If it be thought that this 
 fact is not sufficient to make the theory about 
 " John the Presbyter " crumble, one can come to 
 
6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 closer quarters and more direct dealing with it 
 on this wise. There is only one piece of evidence 
 that any confusion between John the Apostle and 
 John the Presbyter was ever suspected to have 
 taken place. Irenaeus speaks of Papias (Bishop 
 of Hierapolis in Phrygia) as having been a " hearer 
 of John." Irenaeus undoubtedly refers to the 
 Apostle ; but Eusebius, a later historian/ imagines 
 him to have confused the Apostle with the 
 Presbyter^ solely on the ground that the name 
 of the latter seems to be twice mentioned in 
 Papias' works. The John mentioned on the 
 second occasion (in connection with Aristion) is 
 generally admitted to have been someone other 
 than John the Evangelist. But it will be seen 
 at once that while the fact of the Presbyter being 
 mentioned by Papias may be evidence of the 
 Presbyter's existence (a point on which^ however, 
 some scholars are extremely doubtful), it is no 
 evidence at all of the blunder Irenaeus is said to 
 have made, since there is no reason why Papias 
 should not have known both Johns, if two there 
 were. 2 Nor, even if Irenaeus had in this particular 
 instance been wrong, would it have any bearing on 
 the matter of the Fourth Gospel's authorship. All 
 that would be proved would be the fact that Irenaeus 
 had not a full acquaintance with the facts of 
 Papias' life. Negatively, it should be noted that 
 there is absolutely nothing to show that John the 
 Presbyter was ever in Ephesus at all, except a 
 statement made by Dionysius of Alexandria ^ to 
 
 ^ 260-339. 
 
 ^ Eusebius himself, however, fully accepts the Johannine 
 authorship of the Fourth Gospel. 
 ^ d. 265. 
 
St. John 
 
 the effect that there '' were erected two monuments 
 in Ephesus^ and each is called John's." Even this 
 Dionysius only reports on hearsay, and he does not 
 himself suggest that the second monument stood 
 to the Presbyter's memory : it is Eusebius who 
 seems to have made the identification on which 
 some modern critics rely so much. The fact that 
 two monuments existed of course proves nothing ; 
 for, as Dr. Drummond rightly points out, we do 
 not, from the fact that London has two monuments 
 to Oliver Goldsmith, argue to two writers of 
 the same name. It is at least possible that both 
 monuments commemorated the same life ; and as a 
 matter of fact, Jerome ^ does seem to say (although 
 the reading is somewhat doubtful, and the passage 
 may conceivably refer to " epistles " rather than to 
 " monuments ") that both memorials at Ephesus 
 commemorate the Apostle John. But, in any event, 
 there is no real evidence in favour of the Presbyter's 
 residence in Asia, or of any confusion between him 
 and the Apostle John. 
 
 It is true that if, on other grounds, the apostolic 
 authorship of the Fourth Gospel were disproved, 
 one might flee for refuge to some such theory, 
 since John the Presbyter would be the next 
 most famous man bearing the necessary name, 
 though even then the theory would be no more 
 than a passably plausible conjecture. But to adopt 
 it, in face of the definite indications given in the 
 twenty-first chapter of the Gospel itself, is much 
 too hazardous a procedure to be sound criticism. 
 The identification of the " disciple whom Jesus 
 loved" with John the Apostle is, to put it at 
 the lowest, by far the most probable settlement of 
 1 343-420. 
 
8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the point ; and that being so^ we are entitled to 
 say that the Fourth Gospel declares itself to have 
 proceeded from John the Apostle's pen. 
 
 2. The external evidence. It is a natural 
 
 thing to inquire, for our next step, how far the 
 " external evidence " supports this claim to a 
 Johannine authorship which, as we have seen, the 
 Gospel itself almost certainly makes. Do the well- 
 known writers of the Christian Church ascribe the 
 book to John ? If not, to whom else is it ascribed } 
 Are there witnesses of character and capacity in 
 favour of the belief that the Fourth Gospel pro- 
 ceeded from the Apostle's hand } 
 
 In view of the controversies which have in recent 
 decades raged round the problem, any inquirer 
 approaching the matter for the first time might 
 well be surprised, with the noise of the controversy 
 in his ears, at being told that testimony to the 
 Johannine authorship meets with no contradiction 
 for many centuries after Christian history began — 
 that, in fact, the first challenge of John's claim 
 (with one insignificant exception presently to be 
 noted) was delivered by Evanson in 1792. Yet 
 the fact is so. All down the centuries, the Church 
 received the Gospel as John's ; and no voice is 
 raised — not even by heretical thinkers, whose 
 doctrinal interests might well have led them to 
 attempt a discrediting of apostolical authorship — 
 to question the soundness of the Church's faith. 
 
 The first distinct quotation from the Fourth 
 Gospel as being John's meets our eyes in 
 Theophilus of Antioch, about the year 180. 
 Speaking of inspired men, this writer says, " One 
 of whom, John, says, ' In the beginning was the 
 
St. John 9 
 
 Word.' " And the first explicit ascription of the 
 Fourth Gospel to the Apostle stands in the 
 " Muratorian Fragment/' i which is of somewhat 
 earlier date. Modern opponents of John's author- 
 ship make the most of the fact that no definite 
 mention of John's name is to be found previous 
 to this period ; but we go on to note that the book 
 was evidently well known long before. Traces of 
 its existence are found in the Didache, or " The 
 Teaching of the Twelve/' whose date is not long 
 after 100. Polycarp, who had been a disciple of 
 John, has allusions in his one remaining work, 
 A71 Epistle to the Philippians, published about 110, 
 which can only indicate acquaintance with the 
 First Epistle of John — and this Epistle and the 
 Gospel are so closely connected that both are 
 practically certain to have come from the same 
 writer. Moreover, Dr. Drummond holds that 
 there is in this book of Poly carp's at least one 
 partial quotation from the Gospel itself. Still 
 more, Irenaeus, writing later,^ says that Poly carp 
 had heard the incidents of the life of our Lord 
 from eye-witnesses, and goes on in this connection 
 to add that '^ John, the disciple of the Lord, who 
 had leaned on His breast, himself also published 
 the Gospel while he dwelt at Ephesus in Asia." 
 This mention of Irenaeus of course carries us out of 
 the strict chronological order ; but the quotation 
 is given here because John, Polycarp, and Irenaeus 
 make a closely linked chain of evidence not easily 
 
 ^ So called because it was discovered by the Italian historian 
 Muratori in the Ambrosian Library of Milan at the beginning 
 of the eighteenth century. The authorship of the Fragment 
 is unknown. 
 
 ^ See below. 
 
lo Westminster New Testament 
 
 to be set aside. With Polycarp as John's disciple, 
 and with Irenaeus as Polycarp' s, it is not likely 
 that Irenaeus would have made this definite 
 assertion concerning the Gospel's authorship 
 unless Polycarp had, in some clear and well- 
 remembered utterance, put the matter beyond 
 doubt. Resuming the chronological statement, 
 we note that Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (about 
 110), employs phrases pointing unmistakably to 
 knowledge of the Fourth Gospel. Heretical 
 writers, such as Basilides and Valentinus^ (125 
 and 145), quote from the book. The Epistle of 
 Barnabas (132) shows that the Gospel was in its 
 writer's hands. Justin Martyr, in his first Apology 
 (147), has phrases and sentences recalling vividly 
 phrases and sentences of John's. Tatian, in his 
 Diatessaroii^ (1^^)^ wTites of four Gospels, and 
 actually begins his book with the early verses 
 of John as we have them now. So we reach 
 Irenaeus again (177), and find him speaking of 
 a sort of necessity in the nature of things that 
 there should be four Gospels, neither more nor 
 less, correspondent to the four winds of heaven 
 or the four regions of the earth. Some of these 
 references, it should be said, have been questioned 
 by modern criticism — that is, it has been denied, 
 concerning some of the quotations and allusions, 
 that they bear upon John's Gospel at all. 
 But it must be remembered that the evidence 
 is cumulative : it does not follow, even if one 
 
 ^ The works of these writers do not survive, except in 
 extracts given principally by Hippolytus;in his work, Against 
 all Heresies. Hippolytus died about 230, and his book was 
 discovered in 1842 in a monastery of Mount Athos. 
 
 ^ The work is a harmony of the four Gospels. 
 
St. John II 
 
 or two of the supposed testimonies should fail, 
 that the case breaks down ; and^ besides^ in the 
 majority of instances given above, there is hardly 
 any room for doubt. So that we have no lack 
 of testimony as to the existence of the Fourth 
 Gospel in the early years of the second century ; 
 and the stairway of evidence brings us easily down 
 to that explicit use of John's name in connection 
 with the book which, as has been seen, Theophilus 
 of Antioch and the Muratorian Fragment make. 
 And from that time onward, acceptance of John's 
 authorship is the normal attitude. The statement 
 of Clement of Alexandria,^ quoted by Eusebius, to 
 the effect that " last of all John perceiving that 
 the bodily facts had been set forth in the other 
 Gospels, at the instance of his disciples and with 
 the inspiration of the Spirit, composed a spiritual 
 Gospel," is accepted everywhere by the whole 
 Church. Not until fhe middle of the eighteenth 
 century did it dawn upon any mind that this 
 universally accepted belief had after all been 
 wrong. 
 
 If it be contended, as it is by some of the 
 negative critics, that while the evidence may 
 prove the existence of the Gospel in the early part 
 of the second century, the fact that the author's 
 name is not given as John till about 180 throws 
 doubt upon the apostolic authorship, there is one 
 point that must be faced. Would it have been 
 possible, unless John had been already held for 
 the writer, for Theophilus of Antioch quietly to 
 assume the fact without at once rousing contra- 
 diction } There can be but one reply. The fact 
 that the first mention of the writer's name meets 
 ^ 150-220. 
 
12 Westminster New Testament 
 
 us in a manner so unlaboured and unostentatious, 
 and that no trace of suspicion or denial can be 
 found, must be held to establish decisively that 
 Theophilus, in alluding to John as the author, 
 was but repeating what everybody knew. The 
 thing is, in fact, in accord with the frequent 
 practice of our own time. A book, recently 
 published, which is known to all and in which all 
 are interested, is alluded to constantly without 
 any mention being made of its author's name : 
 it is not till some time has elapsed, and the first 
 freshness of interest is wearing away, that it is 
 thought necessary to be more explicit. It was 
 common knowledge, we are entitled to say, that 
 the Fourth Gospel proceeded from John's pen. 
 The fact was so well known that there was no need 
 to mention it. Later, it was a natural thing that 
 the fuller and more formal designation of the book 
 should be set down. 
 
 Mention was previously made, however, of one 
 insignificant exception by which the unanimity of 
 the external evidence is broken through ; and, 
 insignificant as the exception is, it demands at 
 least a word. Towards the end of the second 
 century the genuineness of the Gospel was denied 
 by a sect named, or rather nicknamed, the Alogi 
 (the foolish ones). Little is known of them : it is 
 actually held by some critics that the sect consisted 
 of only one person ; and it is certain that they 
 were not taken very seriously by anyone either at 
 the time of their existence or in after days. It is 
 only the negative critics of modern times who 
 have made much of them — quite naturally, of 
 course, since the one available piece of negative 
 evidence must be carefully cherished by those 
 
St. John 13 
 
 bent upon maintaining the negative position. Dr. 
 Drummond says sarcastically that the Alogi "have 
 been fondled with a tenderness suitable to their 
 small dimensions/' and declares himself unable to 
 treat them with much more seriousness than he 
 gives to the theory of the Baconian authorship 
 of Shakespeare's plays. The Alogi are, indeed, 
 reduced to their true value by the simple state- 
 ment that they ascribed the Gospel to Cerinthus — 
 and Cerinthus is the very heretic whom the Gospel 
 was in great part designed to refute ! The fact at 
 once robs the matter of whatever importance it 
 might seem to possess. Certainly the repudiation 
 of the book by people like the Alogi cannot weigh 
 for an instant against the otherwise unanimous 
 testimony we have adduced. One needs only to 
 note the existence of the sect, and immediately 
 drop it out of the essential factors of the case. 
 
 One other difficulty — and a real one — presents 
 itself when the external evidence is under review. 
 A ninth-century writer, Georgius Hamartolus, 
 reproduces a statement which Papias is said to 
 have made, to the effect that both the sons of 
 Zebedee, James and John, were "slain by the 
 Jews." This is assumed by some critics to mean 
 that both brothers were put to death at the same 
 time ; and this would of course be fatal to the 
 Johannine authorship of our Gospel, since James 
 was killed by Herod Agrippa in the year 41, and 
 it is not contended by anyone that the Gospel was 
 written till a later date. It may be taken as 
 certain, however, that Papias, whatever he may 
 have said or meant, did not say or mean that John 
 and James suffered siymdtaneously. There is nothing 
 in the statement, as quoted, to support such an 
 
14 Westminster New Testament 
 
 idea ; and a reference in the Epistle to the 
 Galatians ^ indicates clearly that John was living 
 after James' death. We are consequently shut 
 up to the supposition that John, if he suffered 
 martyrdom at all in the ordinary sense of the 
 word, did so at some subsequent time and in Asia, 
 where, according to practically unanimous tradition, 
 he lived to a great age. This might be taken as a 
 sufficient explanation of the statement attributed 
 to Papias, were it not for the fact that tradition is 
 also practically unanimous in declaring that the 
 Apostle died a natural death. On this point, it 
 must be remembered that the word translated 
 " slain " or " martyred " did not formerly always 
 carry the signification it does with us. "White 
 martyrdom," as the phrase runs, was sometimes 
 intended — that is, any suffering for the truth 
 short of death itself; and it is possible that the 
 quoted statement may have had reference to the 
 Apostle's banishment, and not to any endurance 
 on his part of the extreme penalty. If we may 
 make the by no means improbable assumption that 
 "the Jews" were instrumental in procuring the 
 exile of John, the [statement of Papias becomes 
 clear, even supposing (what many scholars have 
 questioned) that Georgius Hamartolus reproduces 
 it with verbal accuracy. Harnack, who will 
 hardly be supposed prejudiced in favour of the 
 Johannine authorship of the Fourth Gospel, thinks 
 that the alleged quotation counts for very little ; 
 and others have imagined that some confusion has 
 arisen in the minds of later copyists between John 
 the Baptist and John the son of Zebedee. In any 
 
 ^ 2. 9. The James mentioned in this passage is, of course, 
 not the son of Zebedee, but the Lord's brother. 
 
St. John 15 
 
 case, it will be seen that the difficulty, though 
 real, is scarcely formidable. It is doubtful whether 
 we have Papias' exact words ; and, taking the 
 statement precisely as it stands, there is nothing at 
 all to show that it points to a simultaneous martyr- 
 dom. That hypothesis excluded, the statement — 
 whether it be quoted accurately or inaccurately, 
 whether it refer to " red " martyrdom or " white " 
 — does not militate against the view that the 
 Apostle John wrote the Fourth Gospel somewhere 
 about the commonly received date. 
 
 A survey of the external evidence, therefore, 
 offers nothing to overturn the claim which the 
 book makes on its own behalf. That John was 
 its author becomes, not less, but more, probable, as 
 we look into the gathered testimonies of the writers 
 whose works survive from the earliest Christian years. 
 
 3. The internal evidence. We turn next to 
 
 the internal evidence — that is, to the indications 
 in the Gospel itself which either support or dis- 
 credit the Gospel's claim to be written by the 
 Apostle John. If the book be penned by a later 
 writer assuming an earlier writer's name or 
 personality, and not, as it claims, by an eye-witness, 
 it is probable that the pretender will in some 
 fashion or other give himself away. He will at 
 some point fail, so to say, to act the part. There 
 will be slips and confusions here and there. If, on 
 the other hand, the author be indeed the Apostle, 
 we shall expect to find a certain detail, a certain 
 sureness of touch in dealing with times and places 
 and the customs of the period, and such-like 
 matters, which would be natural to one who had 
 taken part in the events described. Unconsciously, 
 
i6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 but none the less decidedly, he will reveal a 
 minuteness of knowledge which a later writer, 
 mentally carrying himself back into the history, 
 could never show. It may be granted, it is true, 
 that a literary artist of skill could minimise this 
 absence of acquaintance with detail, and by an 
 exercise of the " historical imagination," combined 
 with careful research, might succeed in imparting 
 an air of verisimilitude to his work ; but it would 
 be too much to expect that the impersonation 
 could be entirely concealed. On the other hand, 
 even an eye-witness, writing long after the events 
 he records, may fall into error now and again. But 
 if we find that on the whole the author manifests 
 the detailed knowledge of which we have spoken, 
 and if he manifests it, not as one who has " got up 
 the subject " for the purposes of his book, but as one 
 with whom it forms part of his native equipment 
 and of his customary outlook upon life, then w^e 
 are entitled to add the internal evidence to the 
 external evidence as supporting [the claim made by 
 the Gospel to be the Apostle's work. And in the 
 case of the book before us, these things are so. 
 
 It is impossible, however, in the case of the 
 internal evidence, to do more than indicate the 
 direction in which the reader may seek it out for 
 himself It is a matter of detail which cannot be 
 pursued into all its striking ramifications in the 
 space at our command. The following examples 
 will give an idea of the line on which the Gospel 
 may be investigated in this connection. There 
 are signs, for one thing, that the author had an 
 intimate acquaintance with some customs of the 
 Jews which fell into disuse after the destruction 
 of the Temple in the year 70, and among which a 
 
St. John 17 
 
 later writer, studying them for the purpose of 
 "local colour/' would not have been so perfectly 
 at home. The regulations concerning purifying 
 are of this order ; ^ but to the writer of the Gospel 
 they evidently formed part of the ordinary routine. 
 The allusions to them come in with perfect 
 naturalness. The topic is native to the writer's 
 mind. In matters of geographical detail we have 
 an accuracy and a carefulness of nomenclature 
 which mark the contemporary and eye-witness of 
 the events set down. Bethsaida is called "the 
 city of Andrew and Peter." ^ ^non is spoken of 
 as being "near to Salim." ^ The Temple is known 
 to the author of the book ; and he writes 
 (although, on any hypothesis as to authorship, the 
 Temple was destroyed when the book was written) 
 as one who had often trodden its courts and who 
 remembered well what all its arrangements had 
 been. Even the reference to the fact that the 
 Temple had been forty-six years in building * is 
 striking and confirmatory. As a matter of fact, 
 the Temple was not finished till the time of Nero, 
 so that many more years than forty-six were 
 occupied in its erection ; but at the time when 
 Jesus, according to the Fourth Gospel, drove out 
 the traders and the money-changers, forty-six 
 years had passed since 20 b.c. — the date at which 
 the building is thought to have been commenced. 
 The author could speak of the " treasury," ^ and 
 of " Solomon's porch," ^ and of other things which 
 could only be known in detail to those who had 
 walked in the Temple before its fall. 
 
 Even the things which have been pressed 
 
 1 2. 6, II. 55, 18. 28. 2 i_ 44 3 3. 23. 
 
 ^ 2. 20. 5 8. 20. ^ 10. 23. 
 
i8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 by some critics as throwing doubt upon the 
 Johannine authorship of the book turn out^ on 
 closer investigation, to favour it. Matthew 
 Arnold made a point of the fact that the writer 
 speaks of ^^the Jews' passover/' and uses such 
 phrases as ^"^ after the manner of the purifying of 
 the Jews/' — thereby implying, according to the 
 critic, that he was not himself a Jew. But, as Dr. 
 Marcus Dods points out, ^^an Englishman w^ho 
 had been thirty years abroad, and who was writing 
 for foreigners, would use precisely such forms of 
 expression." i And thus John, in his abode at 
 Ephesus, follow^ed what is after all the natural 
 method when he employed language such as this. 
 Again, the fact that the writer of the Gospel uses 
 the name ^^ Sea of Tiberias" for the ^^Sea of 
 Galilee " has been fastened upon as a sign of late 
 composition, inasmuch as it is said that the name 
 "Sea of Tiberias" did not come into general 
 use till the second century. It happens, however, 
 that the author employs both names, and employs 
 them together,'^ as if he were writing just at a time 
 of transition when the one name was passing out 
 of use and the other coming in — which, if the new 
 name was in the second century well established, 
 precisely corresponds to the probabilities at the 
 first century's close. So that, once more, the 
 supposed testimony for the prosecution shifts over 
 to the side of the defence. 
 
 All this, as has been said, is but an indication of 
 
 some of the lines on which the examination of the 
 
 "internal evidence" can be pursued. In many 
 
 ways, it will be found (the impression deepens 
 
 ^ Introduction to the New Testament, 
 
 2 6. I. 
 
St. John 19 
 
 with the reading of ahiiost every incident related 
 in the pages of the book), the author of the Fourth 
 Gospel reveals his intimate knowledge of the 
 country concerning which he writes, of its topo- 
 graphy, of the habits of its inhabitants, of its 
 religious condition and divisions ; and all this 
 affords strong support to the theory that an eye- 
 witness was, through by far the major portion of the 
 Gospel, taking the pen in hand. And if an eye- 
 witness, then no one, as we have seen, can dispute 
 the Apostle's claim. It should be added that the 
 writer's proved accuracy in cases where it can be 
 tested constitutes a strong presumption of similar 
 accuracy in cases where he writes with similar 
 detail, but where similar test and proof can no 
 longer be obtained. The student making his 
 mental journey through these pages, and coming 
 upon example after example of the author's intimate 
 knowledge concerning persons, places, seasons, and 
 the rest, and finding, moreover, that where tests can 
 be applied the writer's credit stands unshaken and 
 sure, will draw but one conclusion. Seeing how 
 the whole thing is '' fitly framed together " on the 
 assumption of the historian being an eye-witness 
 of the history, he will conclude that the internal 
 evidence, no less than the external, supports the 
 Johannine authorship of the Gospel which bears 
 John's name. 
 
 4. What is on the other side ? Wliat, then, 
 
 it will be asked, is there to set on the other side ? 
 If the Gospel claims to be written by John, and it 
 the evidence, both external and internal, unites to 
 support the claim, how is it that so much debate 
 has circled round the point } In reply, it has to 
 
20 
 
 Westminster New Testament 
 
 be said that the chief objection brought against the 
 Johannine authorship lies in the apparent difference 
 between the presentation of Jesus given in the 
 Fourth Gospel and that given in the other three. 
 The fact that the Fourth Gospel carries the doctrine 
 of Christ's special divinity farther than do the Syn- 
 optics — or, at least, emphasises and dwells upon it to 
 a far greater extent — is fastened upon as being itself 
 a suspicious thing. The simplicity of the Synoptic 
 account has here given place, it is said, to long 
 discourses, claiming to have been uttered by Jesus 
 Himself, in which He lays stress upon a profound 
 relation to God, whereof, in the Synoptics, He does 
 not speak. We have exchanged the simple Teacher 
 for the mystic. Jesus speaks less in a style suited 
 to the people, and more in a fashion which only the 
 wise could understand. His own claims, His own 
 greatness, form the theme of many of these long 
 discourses which the Fourth Gospel records ; and 
 the more elementary expositions and invitations of 
 the other three are absent from the page. 
 
 Strenuously as the point has been pressed, how- 
 ever, the reply is quite easy. For one thing, it 
 must be remembered that even in the Synoptics 
 there are passages which imply an altogether 
 unique relation between Jesus and God. Matt. 
 11. 27, for example, is quite Johannine in its ring.^ 
 Mark 13. 31 asserts the authority of Jesus as 
 explicitly as does any passage in John. Of 
 Matt. 25. 31 the same thing may be said. And 
 any reader, turning the Synoptic pages with open 
 mind, will find similar instances not a few. For 
 another thing, when it is borne in mind that the 
 discourses in the Fourth Gospel are represented 
 ^ See also Luke lo. 22. 
 
St. John 21 
 
 as addressed to hostile Jews in Jerusalem, it will 
 seem a quite natural thing that they should deal 
 more insistently and continuously with the assertion 
 of Christ's claims, since the very fact that opposition 
 had to be met compelled a fuller and more 
 complete statement of the case. Speaking to the 
 multitudes, Jesus, one would expect, would suffer 
 His unique claims to be implied rather than 
 earnestly pressed, so far as any definite formulation 
 of the profound relations between Himself and the 
 Father were concerned ; speaking to the bitter and 
 antagonistic ecclesiastical authorities in Jerusalem, 
 He would push these claims to the front, meeting 
 challenge with adequate assertion and defence. 
 So far from being an objection to the authenticity 
 of the reported discourses, the difference between 
 them and those given in the Synoptics (even push- 
 ing the difference to the utmost) is actually a 
 confirmation of their truth. 
 
 The very fact that the Fourth Gospel represents 
 Jesus as teaching principally in Jerusalem is, how- 
 ever, made a ground of suspicion. The Synoptics 
 show us Jesus exercising His ministry chiefly in 
 Galilee — why does this last account transfer Him 
 to the city ? Of this a great deal has been made ; 
 and yet of this, too, one is inclined to say that the 
 objection is really "much ado about nothing." If 
 John, writing later, set himself to supply what the 
 other writers had left unsupplied, surely an 
 adequate, though simple, explanation has been 
 found. For the point is not (and this applies to 
 the previously mentioned objection as well as to 
 this) that John's account is actually inconsistent with 
 that of the Synoptists, but simply that it contains 
 what they do not — a distinction which must not be 
 
22 Westminster New Testament 
 
 overlooked. It is antecedently probable that Jesus 
 would spend no little time in Jerusalem ; and if 
 the Synoptics had preferred to dwell upon the 
 Galilean side^ it is no wonder that John should 
 determine to fill the gap. And, besides, allusions 
 to a Galilean ministry are definitely found in the 
 Fourth Gospel.^ The Galilean ministry is assumed, 
 though not described. Neither the Synoptists nor 
 John tell the whole tale : it is only by putting the 
 various accounts together that we make the picture 
 complete. 
 
 John, then, may — after this survey of the whole 
 case — be held for the book's author. One may 
 allow that, writing in old age and long after the 
 events narrated, he may have given some of his 
 Master's ideas in his own speech ; and it is equally 
 possible that he may have put into any given 
 discourse thoughts and phrases which really belong 
 to another. But there is no reason to doubt that 
 we have here a substantially accurate record of 
 what Jesus said and did, written by one who 
 companied with Him, or that it is an Apostle who 
 in these pages gives us what he has seen with his 
 eyes, what he has heard, and what his hands have 
 handled, concerning the Word of life.^ 
 
 II. THE SPECIAL PURPOSE OF THE 
 GOSPEL. 
 
 In writing his Gospel, John had a very special 
 
 purpose in view. Of course, this is equally true, 
 
 in a sense, of the writers of the synoptic Gospels : 
 
 it was their intention to present a narrative, not 
 
 1 4. 43, 7. I, etc. 2 J John I. I. 
 
St. John 23 
 
 necessarily complete, but accurate within its limits, 
 of the words and deeds of Jesus ; and to this extent 
 John's aim was identical with theirs. Moreover, 
 in each one of the Synoptics some particular side 
 of Christ's mission is emphasised, and it is under 
 some particular aspect that Jesus Himself is more 
 or less consistently conceived. 1 But John's aim is 
 differentiated from that of the others by being 
 more distinctly controversial. His Gospel was 
 composed with a consciousness that the divineness 
 of Jesus had been assailed : he saw the foes of his 
 faith before his mind's eye ; and so the dominant 
 purpose throughout his book is to bring out facts 
 which support the doctrine that Jesus was in the 
 full sense of the words the Son of God. Thus, 
 towards the close of the Gospel, the Apostle 
 describes the aim which has all along been regnant 
 in his thought, declaring of the things which he 
 had set down, "these are written, that ye may 
 believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; 
 and that believing ye may have life in his name." ^ 
 Tradition represents John as having specially had 
 controversy with a philosopher named Cerinthus. 
 However this may be, it is certainly against such 
 views as those held by Cerinthus that the Fourth 
 Gospel lifts up its testimony — as also against the 
 Ebionite and Gnostic heresies which were cor- 
 rupting the churches by the time that John had 
 reached old age. We have not space to explain 
 these systems at length. It may be briefly said, 
 however, that the Gnostic heresy, holding every- 
 
 ^ See, for instance, the suggestive chapter called "Four 
 Pictures of Jesus " in Professor Work's volume, The Fascination 
 of The Book. 
 
 2 20. 31. 
 
24 Westminster New Testament 
 
 thing corporeal to be evil, counted the historical 
 Jesus to have been merely man, since divineness 
 actually incarnated in humanity involved an 
 unthinkable contradiction ; while the Ebionites 
 were a Judaising sect whose members, besides 
 taking the Jewish law as possessing binding 
 obligation, held views upon the nature of Jesus 
 which were kindred with those of the Gnostic 
 creed. Cerinthus, on his part, taught that up to 
 His baptism Jesus was only man, and also (since it 
 w^as impossible for Deity to suffer) that at the 
 Crucifixion He became only man once more. It 
 was against these and similar speculations, destruc- 
 tive as they were of the true doctrine of the 
 incarnation of God in Christ, that John desired 
 to bear his witness. He writes, that is, with a 
 definite doctrinal and even polemical intent. 
 
 Remembering this, John's method is explained. 
 His selection of facts is carefully made. He lays 
 emphasis upon those incidents and those sayings 
 in the sacred history which tell most directly 
 toward the establishment of the doctrine he is 
 concerned to uphold. He is interested primarily 
 in the bearing of events upon the polemical object 
 nearest to his mind ; and the intrinsic interest 
 of history takes a secondary place. For instance, 
 John the Baptist, who is in the other three Gospels 
 a figure invested with interest for what he is in 
 himself, finds a place in John's Gospel only as one 
 who bears testimony to the Christ. And so all 
 through, the apologetic purpose is the ruling idea. 
 This does not, needless to say, afford any justifica- 
 tion for the charges sometimes brought against the 
 author of the book. It is said that inasmuch as 
 John had a polemical pm'pose to serve, he is not 
 
St. John 25 
 
 reliable as a witness : he probably read facts in 
 such a fashion as suited himself — not perhaps con- 
 sciously or deliberately, but none the less surely. 
 This is really a childish begging of the question 
 of the author's credibility. It is on quite other 
 grounds that the reliability or unreliability of the 
 Apostle as a witness must be decided ; and with 
 some of these we have, in the section on " internal 
 evidence/' already dealt. All that we are justified 
 in saying is that a writer with a doctrinal end in 
 view will, when he is compiling his history, lay 
 special stress upon those facts which directly help 
 his aim — and this he is most certainly entitled to 
 do, so long as he does not conceal his intention, 
 or make any claim to completeness in the stoiy 
 he tells. John leaves out many things which the 
 other writers insert : he puts in a great deal which 
 the other writers omit ; and all is done in order 
 to show that Jesus is the Christ. If, among the 
 facts which others record and which John leaves 
 out, there were any w^hich went to show that 
 Jesus is not the Son of God, then, indeed, the 
 charge of bias and unreliability would stand. But 
 this is not so. John does not manipulate facts — 
 he does but select, distribute the emphasis of 
 attention, re-group the facts that lie to his hand. 
 And he is justified in so doing, inasmuch as he 
 works with the purpose of demonstrating the 
 special divineness of Jesus to a Church which had 
 begun to lose the purity of its faith. 
 
 It is not meant, however, that the Fourth Gospel 
 is a piece of philosophical reasoning in the strict 
 sense. It is not a logical defence of the doctrine 
 of the divinity of Christ. John does not move in 
 the realm of abstract reasoning. His Gospel is 
 
26 Westminster New Testament 
 
 an inductive study of facts^ the effect of their 
 presentation being cumulative^ the whole mass of 
 factSj in the combination of them within the mind, 
 being designed to force the conclusion that nothing 
 except a special divineness in Jesus can account 
 for it. It is on this cumulative impression of facts, 
 not upon any strictly logical demonstration, that 
 the Apostle relies. He does not start from given 
 theoretical propositions and then draw out the 
 inferences to which they lead : the syllogism is not 
 the weapon he wields. The things that Jesus said 
 and did are the points of start ; and John intended 
 that his readers should at last be driven to faith 
 in Jesus as the Christ by the impossibility of ac- 
 counting in any other way for the facts set down. 
 His purpose is polemic, true ; but he is the historian 
 no less than the disputant, and his method is to 
 let the facts speak for themselves. 
 
 III. JOHN AND THE "LOGOS" DOCTRINE. 
 
 The fact that the author of the Fourth Gospel, 
 in his prologue, speaks of Christ under the desig- 
 nation of the ^'^Word," has been fastened upon 
 as indicating that the book is written less in the 
 interest of history than in that of a philosophical 
 theory. For the title " Word " was frequently 
 used in current philosophical speculation to denote 
 the means of communication between God and the 
 world — although the title nearly always stood for 
 an impersonal abstraction of some kind rather than, 
 as with John, for a personal Being ; and the sug- 
 gestion is that the writer of the Gospel, wishing 
 to vindicate a philosophical status for Christianity, 
 idealised the events of the life of Jesus in such 
 
St. John 27 
 
 a fashion as to make it possible to apply the title 
 to Jesus Himself. Philo of Alexandria 1 was the 
 fullest elaborator of the Logos idea, so that it has 
 come to be a standing assertion with some critics 
 that John, or the author of the Fourth Gospel, was 
 directly influenced by this writer, and manipulated 
 his material in such wise as to construct a Christian- 
 ised version of Philo's system. In other words, the 
 history was written up to the philosophical theory 
 which had to be maintained. 
 
 Probably it is sufficient reply to point out how 
 little about the "Word," in any philosophical sense, 
 is really to be found in John's pages. As a matter 
 of fact, once the prologue is past, we are launched 
 upon a straightforward narrative of events, and no 
 sign appears to indicate that the writer is under 
 the dominance of any theory at all. In short, the 
 book is not written up to the " Logos " doctrine, 
 whatever some critics may say. Had the author 
 started with the purpose of adjusting philosophy 
 and facts, he would certainly have pointed out, 
 as the attempt progressed, how successful he had 
 been, and would not have suffered his main inten- 
 tion to be so completely forgotten. Beyond the 
 prologue, the " Logos " idea — which, according to 
 the critics with whom we are dealing, was master 
 in the writer's mind to the extent of requiring an 
 actual idealisation of facts — disappears. That is, 
 the very theory for whose sake the book was com- 
 piled drops out of sight. Most readers, approach- 
 ing the question dispassionately, would be inclined 
 to say that, granting the '^ Logos " doctrine of 
 philosophical speculation to have been present to 
 John's mind while he wrote his introductory verses, 
 
 ^ B.C. 20-A.D. 50. 
 
28 Westminster New Testament 
 
 it was certainly not the ruling interest while the 
 body of the Gospel was being shaped. 
 
 It need not be questioned — at any rate, it need 
 not be denied — that John had some acquaintance 
 with Philo's work : indeed, the " Logos " idea was 
 part of the current coin of thought, not only in 
 Alexandria, but in Asia too. And from another 
 direction the use of the title "Word" would 
 be familiar to the Apostle ; for in the Aramaic 
 paraphrases of the Old Testament the term was 
 frequently employed instead of the name of God, 
 when communications from God to men were in 
 question. One may well suppose, therefore, that 
 with the facts of Christ's life before him, John 
 would think within himself, " Here, surely, is the 
 living embodiment of that ^ Word ' — that method 
 of divine communication with men — of which philo- 
 sophers and others have spoken," and would rejoice 
 to point out how the well-known term found its 
 best and truest application to the Jesus of whom 
 he had to tell. It is probable, indeed, that the 
 prologue to the Gospel was written after the body 
 of the book, and is, as it were, a kind of epilogue 
 set down at the beginning, rather than a prologue 
 in the stricter sense. It was not so much a text 
 which the book was to expound, as a text, found 
 later, which expounds — or supplies an appropriate 
 motto for — the book. Requiring one descriptive 
 term for the Jesus whose life-story he had written, 
 John uses the term that lay ready to his hand. 
 That is to say, he adopts a verbal expression rather 
 than an idea, and gives a new content to the ex- 
 pression he adopts. It is not that he adjusts his 
 facts to a philosophical theory ; but, realising how 
 his facts can make a better use of the principal 
 
St. John 29 
 
 term which the theory employs^ he takes over the 
 term and consecrates it to the higher service. His 
 mental attitude is not, " I must make Jesus appear 
 as the Word/' but rather, "This Jesus, surely He 
 is the Word." John did not stretch the facts of 
 Christ's life to fit the term. He stretched the 
 term to fit the Christ. 
 
 IV. THE DIVISIONS OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 It is a helpful thing, in studying the Gospel, to 
 bear in mind that it may be taken as falling into 
 three main sections, exclusive of the prologue. 
 The first section, beginning at the nineteenth 
 verse of the first chapter, shows Jesus uttering 
 many words and doing many deeds which in- 
 evitably suggest the inference that here is One 
 quite outside all ordinary human classifications. 
 John speaks, in this section, ybr Christ and about 
 Christ — telling how He turned water into wine, 
 how He preached marvellous doctrine to Nicodemus, 
 how He cleansed the Temple, how He revealed a 
 strange power of touching the human heart in His 
 conversation with the Samaritan woman, and thus 
 in many ways building up the portrait of Him 
 whom he would have recognised as the specially 
 anointed One of God. From the commencement 
 of the fifth chapter to the eighteenth verse of the 
 tenth, the method changes. John does not now 
 speak so much /or Christ or about Christ, but leaves 
 Christ to speak for Himself: this is the profoundest 
 section of the Gospel, wherein Christ delivers the 
 discourses concerning Himself as the Bread of Life 
 and the Life-Giver, and reveals the depth of His 
 own consciousness in many startling words. In the 
 
30 Westminster New Testament 
 
 first section John impresses upon his readers what 
 men saw and heard in Christ or from Christ : in 
 this second section he takes his readers into the 
 deepest places of Christ's inner Hfe, and makes 
 them reaUse in measure what passes there. It is 
 not, in this division, John revealing Christ — it is 
 Christ revealing Himself. Finally, in the third 
 section — from the point indicated to the end — the 
 Apostle returns to his first method, taking up the 
 story again from the spectator's point of view — the 
 story being almost entirely concerned, in this last 
 division, with death in its approach and its con- 
 summation and its resurrection-sequel, and the 
 inference of divineness in this marvellous Jesus 
 being made to appear inevitable once more. It is 
 true that the farewell sayings and prayers recorded 
 in this section give us a glimpse into the depths of 
 Christ's soul, no less than do the discourses of the 
 second division ; but nevertheless the narrator 
 does not drop so entirely out of sight as is the case 
 in the middle section of the three. 
 
 Every reader will of course be able to make for 
 himself some division of the Gospel which will 
 assist his memory and understanding. But having 
 regard to the Apostle's main purpose — the purpose 
 of showing that this Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
 God — the division here suggested will, it is thought, 
 keep that purpose clear in the reader's mind while 
 he reads, and enable him to see most vividly how 
 the purpose has been fulfilled. It adheres most 
 closely to John's main idea as John himself declares 
 it. The Christ from Without — then the Christ 
 from Within — then the Christ from Without once 
 more — all the three impressions coalescing into 
 the figure of One who must be the Son of God. 
 
John I. 1-18. 
 THE PROLOGUE. 
 
 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
 
 2 with God, and the Word was God. The same was 
 
 3 in the beginning with God. All things were made 
 by him ; and without him was not any thing made 
 
 4 that was made. In him was life ; and the life was 
 
 5 the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness ; 
 
 6 and the darkness comprehended it not. There was 
 
 7 a man sent from God, whose name was John. The 
 same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, 
 
 8 that all men through him might believe. He was 
 not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that 
 
 9 Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth 
 
 10 every man that cometh into the world. He was in 
 the world, and the world was made by him, and the 
 
 11 world knew him not. He came unto his own, and 
 
 12 his own received him not. But as many as received 
 him, to them gave he power to become the sons of 
 
 13 God, even to them that believe on his name : which 
 were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 
 
 14 nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word 
 was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld 
 his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the 
 
 15 Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness 
 of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I 
 spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before 
 
 16 me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have 
 
32 Westminster New Testament 
 
 17 all we received, and grace for grace. For the law- 
 was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by 
 
 18 Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time ; 
 the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of 
 the Father, he hath declared him. 
 
 The prologue to John's Gospel supplies^ so to 
 say, a standard for the reader's mind. It is not 
 precisely an outline which the main contents of 
 the book are to fill up ; for, as has been said, we 
 hear little of the " Word " in the sense of the 
 prologue once the prologue itself is passed. And 
 it is not precisely a summary of the contents of the 
 Gospel ; for there is hardly any reference to the 
 actual historic facts of the life of Jesus. It 
 indicates, rather, the final inference which John 
 himself has drawn from his study of these facts — 
 the inference that Jesus is the last and highest 
 development of that divine self-manifestation 
 which has been going on from the beginning ; 
 and, in giving this indication, it supplies a test 
 and standard to which the reader may constantly 
 refer as he passes on. Very likely, as has 
 previously been said, the prologue was written 
 last ; and John sets it in its place where it stands 
 in order that his readers, perceiving where his own 
 study has led him, may ask themselves all through 
 whether this is not also the goal to which they are 
 being led. " Remember, as you read, that I claim 
 this Jesus as the ^ Word.' Does not the story con- 
 strain you, too, to admit the claim .? " 
 
 The prologue emphasises two ideas, in a manner 
 two contrasted ideas, concerning Christ. On the 
 one hand it declares His absolute uniqueness — this 
 being of course implied in John's identification of 
 Christ with the Word ; and on the other hand it 
 
St. John 33 
 
 declares the entire naturalness of His coming. His 
 advent was the one thing to which all history had 
 been tending, and for which the world was pre- 
 pared. (See on vv. 3, 10, 11.) 
 
 Concerning the Logos doctrine more particularly, 
 see Introduction. 
 
 1. In the beginning. From eternity, before 
 the history of the world began. It is from 
 this standpoint that the prologue deals with 
 Christ. He is the fulfilment of an eternal 
 intention. 
 
 the Word. God's self-communication. From 
 the beginning God had purposed the self-revela- 
 tion which culminated in Christ. The other 
 phrases in vv. 1 and 2 repeat and emphasise the 
 same idea. 
 
 3. The words are usually taken as simply 
 intimating that the Word was the active agent in 
 creation. In reality, however, they have a much 
 wider range. Looking at the whole process of 
 human history — not merely at the original process 
 of creation — from the eternal standpoint, the 
 declaration is made that it is completed, and was 
 intended to be completed, through the self- 
 communication of God in Christ. Once again, 
 Christ is the fulfilment of an eternal intention. 
 He is the means by which the final '^making" — 
 the return of human life to the God who is its 
 source — was originally meant to be carried through. 
 Christ was no after- thought. He is part of the 
 first scheme of things as God conceived it. 
 
 4. In him was life. Cf. other passages in the 
 Gospel. For example, 5. 26, which may in a 
 manner be called the key-text of the book. Christ 
 as Life-Giver is the central idea of it — the idea 
 
34 Westminster New Testament 
 
 being of course only another aspect of Christ as 
 endowed with special divineness. 
 
 According to one arrangement, the end of v. 3 
 connects with v. 4, and the whole passage reads 
 " that which was made was life in him." The 
 sense remains substantially unaltered. 
 
 the light of men. Christ, by what He was, 
 revealed man to himself, and the destiny for which 
 man was made. 
 
 5. the darkness comprehended it not. A 
 better reading is " the darkness overcame it not " 
 (R.V. marg.). The meaning thus becomes that 
 though Christ had the darkness of the world to 
 contend against, yet it did not deprive His mission 
 of its final success. And thus this verse looks on 
 to V. 12. There were at any rate some who re- 
 ceived Him. 
 
 6. The writer makes an attempt to settle down 
 to the earthly history, as if descending from the 
 lofty heights he has stood on till now. 
 
 John. The author of the Gospel does not think 
 it necessary to give him the title of "the Baptist." 
 The other Evangelists do so to distinguish him 
 from the Apostle. The Apostle himself, in his 
 humility, omits it. 
 
 7. 8. Expanded in vv. 19-27. 
 
 9- There are three possible renderings of this 
 verse. That of the A.V. is one. That of the 
 R.V. is another. Or we may read it as a simple 
 historical statement, " There was coming into the 
 world the true Light which lighteth every man." 
 The rendering to be adopted depends upon whether 
 the last clause is connected with " was," or with 
 " every man," or with " the true Light." The 
 R.V. rendering is probably the best. 
 
St. John 35 
 
 10, 11. John quits the historical Hne he began 
 in V. 6, carried from it by the pathos of the tale 
 he has to tell. It was Christ's own world, and 
 yet the world rejected Him ! They that rejected 
 Him were |His own, and should have welcomed 
 Him gladly. The suggestion is that of the 
 naturalness of Christ's coming (see above). He 
 was precisely the One for whom the w^orld should 
 have been prepared. 
 
 12. Yet His mission did not fail (see v. 5.) 
 Some received Him. 
 
 received him. This is anticipatory of some 
 of the deeper phrases of this Gospel, such as eating 
 the flesh of the Son of Man, and drinking His 
 blood (6. 53), etc. 
 
 power to become. The idea is that of 
 development. Receiving Christ starts man in a 
 process of living growth. 
 
 believe on his name. The word "believe" 
 
 must be read in the light of the previous ex- 
 pression, "received him." "Name" means the 
 whole nature, the whole Christ. To believe on 
 His name is to receive Christ within. 
 
 13. This looks on to Christ's teaching about the 
 new birth in chapter 3. The result of receiving 
 Christ is a real beginning of new life, not a mere 
 superficial change. 
 
 14. John can find no excuse for the rejection of 
 Christ by His own. The shining of His glory 
 had been so clear. 
 
 was made flesh. The words point to a real 
 entrance into human life and human conditions. 
 Christ's humanity was not a mere appearance, as 
 was maintained by some of those whom John 
 sought to refute. 
 
36 Westminster New Testament 
 
 only begotten. An explicit assertion of the 
 uniqueness of Jesus. He was not as other sons. 
 
 grace and truth. Christ was full of love, 
 but His love was also ^^ truth" — faithful to the 
 eternal Will and Idea. Even in His love He 
 revealed the original deteniiination of God. Cf. 
 His own assertion, "I am the Truth," in 14. 6. 
 And because His ^^ grace" is also "truth," human 
 hearts may rely upon it the more. 
 
 15. The Evangelist makes another attempt to 
 begin the narrative, to descend from the great 
 heights of thought where he has been. The 
 testimony of the Baptist, which is here partially 
 given, is carried on in v. 30. 
 
 16. The Evangelist is forced up to the high 
 levels once more. He cannot at the moment 
 continue the narrative, of his fulness refers 
 back to the " full of grace and truth " in v. 14. 
 
 17. The verse suggests Christ's grace and truth 
 as a contrast to the Mosaic dispensation, and yet 
 as a fulfilment of it. The Mosaic law, inculcating 
 commands and prohibitions, gives place to Christ's 
 offer of sonship (v. 12) to those who received Him. 
 And yet Christ also fulfils the law, in that He 
 accomplishes by His salvation all that the law had 
 vainly sought to perform. 
 
 The verse suggests that the coming of Christ 
 was indeed a new epoch in the world's history. 
 It was not only a new apprehension of God by man 
 — it was a new acting of God upon man. 
 
 18. This is the definite, categorical statement 
 in which John tries, as it were, to make a complete 
 deliverance of his mind — the statement which has 
 been struggling for expression in him all through. 
 Note the " up and down movement," to which 
 
St. John 37 
 
 reference has already been made (vv. 6 and 15), 
 reaching its climax in this declaration. At last 
 John sets his thought free and gives it speech. 
 
 No man hath seen, etc. Christ, therefore, is 
 no mere man, and, moreover, in declaring the 
 Father, does for man what man could never have 
 done for himself. 
 
 the only begotten Son. Or, " God the only 
 
 begotten " (R.V. marg.). 
 
 No man hath seen God — yet man wants God — 
 and in Christ the need is met. The consciousness 
 of man's desire for God is like an undertone 
 beneath the first part of the verse. The second 
 part strikes a triumphant note. 
 
 which is in the bosom of the Father. 
 
 This refers just as much to the earthly life of 
 Jesus as to His eternal relation with God. Even 
 on earth Jesus was " in the bosom of the Father " 
 — and from this thought John passes on to begin 
 the history he has to write. 
 
 John I. 19-28. 
 THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY TO CHRIST. 
 
 19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent 
 priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who 
 
 20 art thou ? And he confessed, and denied not ; 
 
 21 but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked 
 him, What then ? Art thou Elias ? And he saith, 
 I am not. Art thou that prophet ? And he 
 
 22 answered, No. Then said they unto him. Who art 
 thou ? that we may give an answer to them that 
 
 23 sent us. What sayest thou of thyself ? He said, I 
 
38 Westminster New Testament 
 
 am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ISIake 
 straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet 
 
 24 Esaias. And they which were sent were of the 
 
 25 Pharisees. And they asked him, and said unto him, 
 Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, 
 
 26 nor EUas, neither that prophet ? John answered 
 them, saying, I baptize with water : but there 
 
 27 standeth one among you, whom ye know not ; he it 
 is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose 
 
 28 shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These 
 things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where 
 John was baptizing. 
 
 It is necessary to distinguish the testimony here 
 recorded from that which is given in the other 
 three Gospels. The testimony given in Matthew, 
 Mark, and Luke w^as spoken to the multitude in 
 general, while that before us was given to a deputa- 
 tion from the Pharisees (v. 24). As would be 
 expected, there is a general similarity in the two 
 testimonies, but there are points of difference too. 
 In addition to the fact that the Fourth Gospel 
 shows us a different audience for the Baptist's 
 Avords, w'e are compelled to differentiate between 
 the two testimonies by the further fact that the 
 Temptation of Jesus must have taken place before 
 the events recorded in John 1. 19-28, inasmuch as 
 there is no room for it between these events and 
 the beginning of chapter 2. (See vv. 29 and 35 
 of this chapter, and v. 1 in chapter 2., which enable 
 us to trace the exact lapse of time.) The 
 testimony in the other Gospels precedes the 
 Temptation. 
 
 It is clear that the religious authorities liad 
 already begun to show a critical spirit. The 
 ministry of the forerunner, like the ministry of 
 
St. John 39 
 
 Christ Himself, was distasteful to the men who 
 hated any interference witli their own religious 
 authority. How hopeless — from the human point 
 of view — Christ's mission was bound to be, is 
 sufficiently evident from the swiftness with which 
 the enmity of the Pharisees sprang to life when 
 the Baptist preached. 
 
 19. the Jews. John always uses the term in 
 a special sense. It denotes, with him, not the 
 nation as a whole, but the ecclesiastical authorities 
 — the Sanhedrin. 
 
 Who art thou ? As it was known that some 
 of the multitude held the Baptist for the Messiah, 
 the deputation put their question in emphatic 
 form. " Whom — after all this excitement — do you 
 really claim to be ? " 
 
 20. Seeing that they expected him to claim to 
 be the Messiah, John at once disavows the claim. 
 The claim had already been made in other 
 cases. 
 
 21. Elias. The return of Elijah was one of the 
 things to which the nation looked forward in con- 
 nection with the Messiah's advent. (Compare 
 Luke 1. 17 and Matt. 17. 11.) Although the 
 Baptist denied that he was Elias, yet Jesus 
 Himself said in the latter passage that in the 
 Baptist the expected return of Elias had taken 
 place. 
 
 that prophet. The prophet foretold by 
 Moses in Deut. 18. 15. By some he was iden- 
 tified with Jeremiah. 
 
 23. The reference is to a frequent custom of the 
 East, where a herald usually goes in advance of a 
 ruler or a great man to announce his coming and 
 to see that proper preparation is made. 
 
40 Westminster New Testament 
 
 This is the essential point of the Baptist's testi- 
 mony. By declaring himself to be the herald of 
 the Lord, spoken of by Isaiah (40. 3), John gives 
 the definite Messianic witness to Christ. 
 
 24. the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the 
 most conservative of the Jewish sects, and the 
 most ready, therefore, to resent any such intrusion 
 into their OM^n realm as the Baptist seemed to be 
 making. 
 
 25. Why baptizest thou then? To the 
 deputation, it seemed as though John had con- 
 demned himself by confessing that he was not 
 the Messiah, nor Elias, nor ^^that prophet." Any 
 one of these three might have administered 
 baptism as a seal of discipleship, but how could 
 this man, who admitted himself to be nobody, 
 have any right to do so ? 
 
 Baptism of proselytes was probably already 
 known among the Jew'S — indeed, the very form 
 of the question in this verse implies that the rite 
 itself was familiar. But "baptism unto repent- 
 ance" as John practised it was a new thing. 
 
 26. 27. John does not give a direct reply. 
 Instead, he seeks, as he had sought in v. 23, 
 to drive the thoughts of his interrogators away 
 from himself to One who is to come — who was, 
 in fact, already " among you." V. 27 refers to a 
 saying in the Jewish schools, to the effect that 
 a scholar should do any service for his teacher, 
 except the unloosing of his sandal. That was 
 too lowly a service even for a pupil to render. 
 Yet the Baptist held the service, not too lowly, 
 but too high. 
 
 28. Bethabara beyond Jordan. There is no 
 doubt that the true reading is given in the R.V., 
 
St. John 41 
 
 "Bethany beyond Jordan." " Bethabara " means 
 " ferry/' or " ford " ; and the ford of Abara leads 
 into the province of Batanea^ which is probably 
 the place to which the verse refers. " Bethabara " 
 was a conjecture of Origen's^ and was perhaps made 
 because in his time no " Bethany " beyond the 
 Jordan was known. 
 
 John I. 29-34. 
 
 THE BAPTIST'S SECOND AND LARGER 
 TESTIMONY. 
 
 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and 
 saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away 
 
 30 the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, 
 After me cometh a man which is preferred before 
 
 31 me : for he was before me. And I knew him not : 
 but that he should be made manifest to Israel, 
 
 32 therefore am I come baptizing with water. And 
 John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending 
 from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 
 
 S3 And I knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize 
 with water, the same said unto me. Upon whom thou 
 shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on 
 him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy 
 
 34 Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is 
 the Son of God. 
 
 This second testimony goes further than the 
 first, and is the Baptist's recognition of Jesus, 
 not only as the Messiah, but as the Saviour from 
 sin. The Messianic idea had been purified and 
 enlarged in the Baptist's own mind — probably in 
 great part through the circumstances attending 
 the baptism of Jesus, to which allusion is made 
 
42 Westminster New Testament 
 
 ill V. 32 ; and in this public utterance he seeks 
 to turn the thoughts of those who hear to the 
 moral aspect of Messiah's mission. This Jesus 
 was the Messiah indeed — but had the people 
 realised what was in truth the most essential 
 part of Messiah's work? 
 
 29- Lamb of God. The reference is to Isa. 
 53. 7, and, more particularly, to the sacrifice for 
 sin typified in the Paschal lamb, whereof Jesus 
 was to be the anti-type. 
 
 of the world. The Messiah's redemptive work, 
 therefore, was not to be confined to Israel alone. 
 The Baptist was enlarging the conception of the 
 Messianic ministry not only as to its contents, but 
 as to the range of its application. He perceived 
 already what the early Christian Church was 
 afterwards not specially swift to see. 
 
 31. I knew him not. This does not refer to 
 personal acquaintance. The Baptist knew Jesus 
 before His baptism, as is evident from the words 
 with which he greeted Jesus when He came 
 (Matt. 3. 14). But John had not realised the 
 official character and mission of Jesus until the 
 descent of the dove. 
 
 but that he, etc. This shows how the Baptist's 
 thought about Jesus, which had hitherto perhaps 
 been somewhat unformed, at any rate lacking 
 in finality and definiteness, had noAV crystallised 
 into shape. He knew now precisely the purpose 
 of his own ministry, and the purpose of Christ's, 
 and the relation between the two. 
 
 32. I saw the Spirit, etc. The other Gospels 
 tell us that the sign was also seen by Jesus 
 Himself, so that it was no subjective delusion 
 of John's own mind. 
 
St. John 43 
 
 33. John had been expectant of something to 
 come, havmg received the premonition alhided 
 to here ; and the events of the baptism of Jesus 
 had given a centre to all the unfixed movements 
 and emotions of which he had been conscious 
 within. What had been vague became clear. 
 
 34. the Son of God. The title was given to 
 Jesus at His baptism (see Synoptists). This verse 
 connects back to v. 18. John the Apostle indicates 
 how the testimony of the Baptist is at one with 
 his own. 
 
 John I. 35-Si. 
 
 THE CALLING OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES. 
 
 35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his 
 
 $6 disciples ; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, 
 
 Sy he saith, Behold the Lamb of God ! And the two 
 
 disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 
 
 38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith 
 unto them, What seek ye ? They said unto him, 
 Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) 
 
 39 where dwellest thou ? He saith unto them. Come 
 and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and 
 abode with him that day : for it was about the tenth 
 
 40 hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and 
 followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 
 
 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith 
 unto him, We have found the Messias, which is 
 
 42 being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him 
 to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou 
 art Simon the son of Jona : thou shalt be called 
 
 43 Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. The 
 day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and 
 
44 Westminster New Testament 
 
 44 findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now 
 Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and 
 
 45 Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto 
 him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, 
 and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the 
 
 46 son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him. Can 
 there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip 
 
 47 saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael 
 coming to him, and saith of him. Behold an Israelite 
 
 48 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 under the fig tree, I saw thee. 
 
 49 Nathanel answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou 
 art the Son of God ; thou art the King of Israel. 
 
 50 Jesus answered and said unto him. Because I said 
 unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest 
 
 5 1 thou ? thou shalt see greater things than these. And 
 he saith unto him. Verily, verily, I say unto you. 
 Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels 
 of God ascending and descending upon the Son of 
 
 The Gospel of John is to be read throughout 
 with a remembrance of the Apostle's purpose in 
 writing it — the purpose of manifesting the entirely 
 unique character of Jesus. In this section John 
 shows how Jesus possessed a marvellous power 
 over men of various types and dispositions, how 
 from the beginning He had the secret of dealing 
 with human hearts, whatever their special char- 
 acteristics might be. " For a first mark of His 
 wholly exceptional character/' the Apostle seems 
 to say, " notice how, at the outset of His ministry. 
 He was prepared for every varying description of 
 man that crossed His path." 
 
St. John 45 
 
 This calling must be distinguished from that 
 recorded in Matt. 4. 18 etc., and in Mark 1. 17 
 etc. The calling recorded in these passages took 
 place in Galilee, whereas the calling recorded in 
 John took place in Judaea ; and, moreover, the 
 narratives differ in many details. For example, 
 here Andrew of his ow n initiative follows Jesus : 
 in Matthew, it is Jesus that calls Andrew. It 
 may be taken that the callings which John here 
 records attached these disciples to Jesus by the 
 ties of affection and reverence. The subsequent 
 callings recorded in the Synoptists were, so to 
 say, the "official" callings, summoning the called 
 away from the ordinary occupations of life to settled 
 discipleship. 
 
 35. two of his disciples. One of these is 
 said (in v. 40) to be Andrew. The other was 
 in all probability the Apostle John himself. It 
 is his custom, through the book, to avoid mention 
 of his own name ; and had anyone else been 
 referred to here, the name would have been set 
 down. 
 
 26. And looking . . . saith. The Baptist 
 speaks as if he seized eagerly upon the oppor- 
 tunity of repeating his testimony to the Messiah's 
 redemptive work. A further instance of his 
 humility, of his readiness to efface himself so 
 that the greater One might be honoured, 
 
 37. they followed. The Baptist had issued 
 no command, but they knew that a follow- 
 ing of Jesus was what this repeated testimony 
 pointed to. 
 
 38. What seek ye? The question was de- 
 signed to make them look within their own minds, 
 and arrive at a definite reason for their adherence to 
 
46 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Christ. Jesus wanted to transform this impulsive 
 discipleship into a discipleship that could give 
 account of itself and its motive. Here we have 
 the first type of character which John shows us 
 in contact with Jesus — the man who undertakes 
 discipleship at the bidding of sudden impulse. 
 This kind of discipleship does not satisfy Christy 
 and He strives to make it a deeper thing. 
 
 Rabbi. The fact that John supplies the ex- 
 planation of this title indicates that he wrote for 
 non-Jewish readers. 
 
 where dwellest thou ? The best reply they 
 could give. If they could not precisely say what 
 they sought^ they wanted at any rate to commune 
 with Jesus Himself; and in this desire lay the 
 promise of a perfected discipleship in the end. 
 
 39. the tenth hour. The reckoning of time 
 was from sunrise to sunset. Hence the tenth hour 
 was 4> p.m. 
 
 41. We have found the Messias. The con- 
 versation with Jesus had driven Andrew into decided 
 conviction and firmness of tone. Previously^ Jesus 
 had been called only " Rabbi/' or Teacher — now 
 He is recognised definitely as the Messiah. 
 
 It is interesting to note how the relative places 
 of Andrew and Peter were afterwards changed. 
 Here, it is Andrew who brings Peter to Christ ; 
 but Peter came to occupy by far the more import- 
 ant place in the apostolic band. 
 
 42. beheld him. The word used indicates a 
 penetrating gaze, which searched the inmost soul 
 of him on whom it was directed. It is only em- 
 ployed twice in the Gospel — here and previously 
 in V. 36, where it is said that the Baptist '' looked " 
 upon Jesus. 
 
St. John 47 
 
 son of Jona. The true reading is "son of 
 John/' as in R.V. 
 
 Cephas. A "stone" or a "rock." In thus 
 giving a changed name^ Jesus promised a changed 
 character, and indicated that the man of fitful 
 mood and cliangeful temperament was to become 
 one of the steadfast pillars of the Church. Here 
 John shows us Jesus in contact with a second type 
 of man, and shows, too, how Jesus felt that the 
 transformation of a character like Peter's was not 
 too great a task. 
 
 43. Philip. Not the Phihp mentioned in the 
 Acts. For other allusions, see 6. 5-7, 12. 21 etc., 
 and 14. 8. 
 
 Here John shows Jesus asserting His authority, 
 and finding rather than being found. That Philip 
 yielded to the call is evident from v. 45, and the 
 fact witnesses to the moral grandeur and magnetism 
 which from the beginning Christ showed forth. 
 
 44. Bethsaida. Bethsaida of Galilee, as it is 
 sometimes called. It may be taken as probable, 
 though the question has been largely debated, that 
 there were two Bethsaidas — the one mentioned 
 here, on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, and 
 Bethsaida Julias, on the Jordan, a little to the north 
 of the Sea. 
 
 45. Nathanael. No doubt one with Bar- 
 tholomew, as the other Evangelists name him. 
 Bartholomew is associated with Philip in the 
 Synoptists' lists, just as Nathanael is associated 
 with Philip here. 
 
 The way in which Philip addresses Nathanael, 
 plunging at once m medias res, suggests that the 
 two friends had previously discussed the question 
 of the Messiah. 
 
48 Westminster New Testament 
 
 46. The point of Nathanael's question — or rather, 
 exclamation of incredulous surprise — lay in the 
 fact that Galilee was held to lie beyond that 
 circle of special divine influence out of which good 
 was supposed to come (see 7. 52). Nazareth 
 itself, however, was probably not the squalid and 
 small place it has been commonly represented as 
 being. Dr. Merril, in his book, Galilee in the Time 
 of Christ, estimates Nazareth to have been a city 
 of fifteen thousand inhabitants. But it is not 
 mentioned in the Old Testament, and there was 
 something startling in the idea that the Messiah 
 should come thence. 
 
 47. The interview here recorded shows us Jesus 
 in contact with yet another type of man — a doubter 
 of a sort. But he was an honest inquirer, ready 
 to " come and see " when Philip invited him to do 
 so. Jesus therefore welcomed him gladly, not 
 shrinking from any test that the spirit of inquiry 
 in Nathanael might apply. 
 
 Christ's word about Nathanael is a recognition 
 of the right spirit that dwelt in him, and of his 
 eagerness to know the truth. "Without guile" is 
 a frequent Biblical expression for a true man 
 (see Ps. 32. 2, 34. 13; 1 Pet. 2. 1 etc.). 
 
 48. That Christ's knowledge of Nathanael was 
 due to special supernatural insight, and not to any 
 previous acquaintance, is evident. "I saw thee" 
 refers, clearly, not to literal sight, but to knowledge 
 otherwise obtained. Nathanael himself takes it so, 
 as shown in the impression made upon him by 
 Christ's words ; and Jesus (v. 50) accepts Nathanael's 
 interpretation. 
 
 49. Nathanael, all his doubts swept away, hails 
 Jesus by the highest Messianic titles. Once 
 
St. John 49 
 
 again, the Evangelist returns upon a previous 
 '' testimony/' and shows how Nathanael repeated, 
 in his ascription of the title '^ Son of God/' what 
 the Baptist had said (v. 34). 
 
 50. greater things than these. The refer- 
 ence is to the effects which were to be produced 
 by the life and ministry of Jesus. The ^'^ greater 
 things" are further spoken of in v. 51 as an ascent 
 and descent of the ^^ angels of God" — meaning 
 that through the work of Christ harmony would 
 be restored between heaven and earth. 
 
 51. Son of man. The title by which Jesus 
 most frequently described Himself. It is not, 
 however, applied to Him by New Testament 
 writers. Here it would add to the conceptions 
 of Him which Nathanael had already expressed 
 (v. 49) a completing and fulfilling idea. 
 
 John 2. i-ii. 
 
 CHRIST'S POWER OVER NATURE: THE 
 FIRS MIRACLE. 
 
 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of 
 
 2 Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus was there : and 
 both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the 
 
 3 marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother 
 
 4 of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus 
 saith unto her. Woman, what have I to do with thee ? 
 
 5 mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto 
 the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 
 
 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after 
 the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing 
 
 7 two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, 
 Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them 
 
 4 
 
50 Westminster New Testament 
 
 8 up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out 
 now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And 
 
 9 they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had 
 tasted the water that was made wine, and knew 
 not whence it was : (but the servants which drew 
 the water knew ;) the governor of the feast called 
 
 10 the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at 
 the beginning doth set forth good wine ; and when 
 men have well drunk, then that which is worse : 
 
 11 but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This 
 beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, 
 and manifested forth his glory ; and his disciples 
 believed on him. 
 
 Having shown in the foregoing section how 
 Jesus had power over human hearts in their vary- 
 ing types, John proceeds to show how Jesus 
 possessed power over Nature and her forces too — 
 thus providing another link for the cumulative 
 proof of Christ's divineness which he is engaged 
 in building up. This Christ was King over the 
 material world, just as truly as He was King over 
 the minds of men. Yet, on the other hand, tlie 
 reticence of Jesus is also to be remarked ; and the 
 narrative shows that reluctance, which was shown 
 with equal clearness on other occasions, to make 
 a display of miraculous power for the mere sake 
 of proving that it existed (v. 4). It is to be 
 noted, also, that the miracle was wn-ought for the 
 especial impression of Mary the mother of Jesus, 
 first of all. This first miracle was hardly a public 
 one. There is no sign that the company as a 
 whole knew either of the sudden need or of the 
 way in which it was met. Of course the ruler of 
 the feast was aware, and the servants who filled 
 and emptied the waterpots, and afterwards the 
 
St. John 51 
 
 thing would be known. But at the moment the 
 lesson was for Mary above 'all others. 
 
 1. the third day. That is, the next day but 
 one after the events narrated in 1. 43-51. The 
 intervening time would be occupied in travelling 
 from the Jordan valley. 
 
 Cana of Galilee. Josephus says that it M^as so 
 called to distinguish it from Kana of Asher 
 (Josh. 19. 28). This, however, is an error, as 
 this Kana would also be in Galilee, according to 
 New Testament geography. There must have 
 been another Cana in Judaea. The Cana here 
 mentioned was probably Kefr Kenna, between 
 five and six miles north of Nazareth, although some 
 hold that Kana el Jelil, also six miles from Nazareth, 
 is a more likely identification. Nathanael belonged 
 to Cana (21. 2). 
 
 2. It is conjectured that Jesus and His disciples 
 had not been originally expected, but, being in 
 Cana, were invited because the mother of Jesus 
 was there. The presence of unexpected guests 
 perhaps accounts for the foilure of the supplies. 
 An old tradition makes the wedding to have been 
 that of John himself, though there is nothing that 
 can be called evidence. 
 
 3. Mary saw in the sudden lack of wine an 
 opportunity for the revelation of her Son's power. 
 No doubt she had long been waiting for that 
 revelation, and wondering why it tarried. Here 
 was the open door — hence her appeal to Jesus. 
 
 4. W^Oman, etc. This mode of address did 
 not imply anything of disrespect, such as would be 
 implied by the use of it from son to mother now. 
 It was a quite customary fashion of speech. 
 
 what have I to do with thee? Perhaps 
 
52 Westminster New Testament 
 
 " What is it to me and what to thee ? " gives a 
 better impression of the meaning. This power to 
 which Mary was appeaUng was a different thing to 
 Christ Himself from what it was to her. At the 
 moment, it was in her eyes something to be 
 employed for the greatening of her Son in the 
 eyes of the assembled guests : to Christ it could be 
 put to no such use. 
 
 mine hour is not yet come. Mary's spirit of 
 curiosity to see what Christ could do really post- 
 poned the " hour/' instead of hastening it. 
 
 .5. Mary understands and accepts the reproof, 
 and simply leaves the matter in Christ's hands. 
 The servants, and she herself, had only to submit. 
 
 6. purifying of the Jews. Ceremonial abhi- 
 tions occupied a large place in Jewish life. The 
 system was based upon Mosaic ordinance, but 
 tradition had made it one of the burdens " grievous 
 to be borne" (see Mark 7. 1-5). 
 
 two or three firkins. A firkin was equal to 
 about nine gallons, so that the total quantity of 
 wine drawn out of the six full waterpots would be 
 about 120 gallons. 
 
 7. Jesus now addresses Himself to the difficulty 
 that has arisen. The changed spirit of Mary, as 
 evidenced in her words to the servants, enables 
 Him to act. The "hour" is now come. 
 
 8. the governor of the feast. Sometimes 
 
 one of the company acted in this capacity, and 
 sometimes a hired official was procured. 
 
 11. miracles. Really "signs." The distinction 
 is important. For the word "sign" implies that 
 the thing seen is the natural outcome of that 
 which is unseen. The deed Jesus performed, 
 therefore, was natural, normal, to the divine 
 
St. John 53 
 
 nature He possessed. So He manifested forth 
 his glory — gave outward embodiment to what 
 was always within. 
 
 his disciples believed on him. They had 
 believed already, but their faith was deepened and 
 confirmed. 
 
 John 2. 12-22. 
 
 THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE. 
 
 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his 
 mother, and his brethren, and his disciples : and 
 
 13 they continued there not many days. And the 
 Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to 
 
 14 Jerusalem ; and found in the temple those that 
 sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers 
 
 1 5 of money sitting : 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 the 
 
 16 changers' money, and overthrew the tables ; and 
 said unto them that sold doves. Take these things 
 hence ; make not my Father's house an house of 
 
 17 merchandise. And his disciples remembered that 
 it was written. The zeal of thine house hath eaten 
 
 18 me up. Then answered the Jews and said unto 
 him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that 
 
 19 thou doest these things ? Jesus answered and said 
 unto them. Destroy this temple, and in three days 
 
 20 I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and 
 six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou 
 
 21 rear it up in three days ? But he spake of the 
 
 22 temple of his body. When therefore he was risen 
 from the dead, his disciples remembered that he 
 had said this unto them ; and they believed the 
 scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 
 
54 Westminster New Testament 
 
 In His cleansing of the Temple^ Jesus makes a 
 clear and unmistakable assertion of His authority. 
 He speaks and acts as one who has not only the 
 right of interference which any good man might 
 claim, but a right altogether unique. This Temple 
 is " My Father's house." It is through this con- 
 sideration that we link up the incident here re- 
 corded with John's main purpose in writing his 
 Gospel — the purpose of manifesting the divineness 
 of Christ. At the very commencement of His 
 ministry, Jesus declares that His judgment con- 
 cerning the Right of things is supreme. The 
 ecclesiastical authorities had winked at this pollu- 
 tion of the sacred precincts — for Jesus this did not 
 count. Without any regard for consequences, He 
 launched Himself upon the one true course. He 
 claimed a title — delegated, so to say, by God 
 Himself, whose house this was — to set things 
 right. And the implication is this — the claim 
 thus made at the outset of the ministry was amply 
 justified by the subsequent life. No one could 
 afterwards say, " You who cleansed the Temple, 
 why are you heedless of the fault in yourself? " 
 
 The Synoptics record a similar cleansing of the 
 Temple at the end of the ministry, but omit any 
 mention of a cleansing at the beginning. There 
 is no real difficulty in supi)Osing that the incident 
 happened twice. We have just indicated how the 
 selection, for the Fourth Gospel, of the first 
 cleansing harmonises with John's plan. 
 
 12. Capernaum. Capernaum was in itself an 
 important place, and Jesus was closely associated 
 with it at different times in His earthly ministry. 
 It was one of the places on which He denounced 
 woes because, with all the "mighty works" it 
 
St. John 
 
 :)D 
 
 had seen, it had not repented (Matt. 11. 23). 
 The site is disputed, the choice lying between 
 Tell Hum at the north-west of the Sea of Galilee, 
 and Khan Minyeh three miles farther south. The 
 former is the more probable. The expression 
 " went down " refers to the fact that the lake- 
 shore is about 700 feet below the level of the 
 sea. 
 
 his brethren. For their names see Matt. 
 13. 55. Although companions of Jesus at this 
 time, they were not of those who believed on Him 
 (7. 5). 
 
 13. pasSOver. Held every year at the time of 
 the spring equinox. It was the first of the 
 three great annual festivals (see Ex. 12). The 
 mention of the Passover here, combined with the 
 Evangelist's mention of other Passovers, is one of 
 the helps towards fixing the duration of Christ's 
 ministry. 
 
 14. The animals were of course sold for sacrificial 
 purposes. The "changers of money" gave Jewish 
 coin in exchange for Roman, the former being 
 necessary for payment of the Temple dues. The 
 trading itself was a profanation of the place ; but 
 the worst feature of the whole thing was the 
 atmosphere of covetousness with which the courts 
 were filled. 
 
 15. l6. It is somewhat remarkable, at first 
 sight, that there does not seem to have been any 
 resistance. But the traders could hope for no 
 sympathy from the mass of the people, whom they 
 had constantly victimised. 
 
 17. See Ps. 69. 9- 
 
 18. The demand for a sign was the one cry 
 which the Jews were always raising. It is sig- 
 
56 Westminster New Testament 
 
 nificant here^ as elsewhere, as showing that they 
 possessed no moral impressionableness. In reality, 
 the act justified itself in the eyes of anyone who 
 had any sense of right, and no further sign should 
 have been needed. 
 
 19. The reply of Jesus was of course not under- 
 stood, and, we may say, was not meant to be. It 
 was remembered, however, and was brought in 
 evidence against Jesus at His trial. 
 
 20. Forty and six years, etc. See Introduc- 
 tion, p. 17. 
 
 21. It is sometimes held that the Evangelist 
 wrongly interprets Christ's utterance, and that 
 what Jesus really referred to was not ^^ the temple 
 of his body," but the Christian Church, which was 
 to rise on the ruin of the Jewish dispensation. 
 We may take it, however, that John is most likely 
 to have known his Master's mind ; and, moreover, 
 the "three days" points to the facts of the Resur- 
 rection very clearly. 
 
 22. When therefore he was risen. The 
 saying remained a riddle to the disciples through 
 the lifetime of Jesus, and it was not until after 
 the Resurrection that they understood. One can 
 understand that at this early stage of Christ's 
 ministry they should not comprehend ; but there 
 were many sayings in the course of Christ's life, 
 and many prophecies, which ought to have cleared 
 their minds. 
 
 the scripture. The Old Testament prophecies 
 which pointed to resurrection (Ps. I6. 10; 
 Hos. 6. 2, etc.). The disciples, putting together 
 these passages, the facts of Christ's Resurrection, 
 and " the word which Jesus had said," found their 
 faith cleared and confirmed. 
 
St. John 57 
 
 John 2. 23-3. 21. 
 
 JESUS AND NICODEMUS: THE NEW BIRTH. 
 
 2^ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in 
 the feast day, many believed in his name, when 
 
 24 they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did 
 not commit himself unto them, because he knew all 
 
 25 men, and needed not that any should testify of man : 
 
 1 for he knew what was in man. There was a man of 
 the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the 
 
 2 Jews : the same came to Jesus by night, and said 
 unto him. Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher 
 come from God : for no man can do these miracles 
 
 3 that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus 
 answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say 
 unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot 
 
 4 see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto 
 him. How can a man be born when he is old ? can 
 he enter the second time into his mother's womb, 
 
 5 and be born ? Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say 
 unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of 
 the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
 
 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that 
 
 7 which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not 
 
 8 that I said unto thee. Ye must be born again. The 
 wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
 sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
 and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born 
 
 9 of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto 
 
 10 him. How can these things be ? Jesus answered 
 and said unto him, Art thou a master of Irsael, and 
 
 1 1 knowest not these things ? Verily, verily, I say 
 unto thee. We speak that we do know, and testify 
 that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness. 
 
 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye bcUeve not. 
 
58 Westminster New Testament 
 
 how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things ? 
 
 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he 
 that came down from heaven, even the Son of man 
 
 14 which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the 
 serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of 
 
 1 5 man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him 
 
 16 should not perish, but have eternal life. For God 
 so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
 
 17 perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not 
 his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but 
 
 1 8 that the world through him might be saved. He 
 that believeth on him is not condemned : but he 
 that believeth not is condemned already, because 
 he hath not believed in the name of the only be- 
 
 19 gotten 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 
 
 2Q evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the 
 light, neither cometh to the hght, lest his deeds 
 
 21 should be reproved. But he that doeth truth 
 cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made 
 manifest, that they are wrought in God. 
 
 The last three verses of chapter 2 are to be 
 taken in connection with chapter 3. The break 
 between the chapters^ as arranged in our Bibles, 
 is misleading. Having stated in 2. 24, 25 that 
 Jesus "knew all men," the Evangelist goes on 
 in chapter 3 to give an illustration of Christ's 
 knowledge of the human heart in dealing with 
 Nicodemus. 
 
 In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus 
 shows the same decisiveness which He had 
 shown at the cleansing of the Temple. He speaks 
 autlioritatively now, as He had acted authoritatively 
 
St. John 59 
 
 then. Herein is shown another point of difference 
 between Christ and the great reformers of the 
 earth. He needed not to feel His way. He 
 spoke out from the beginning, declaring the one 
 necessary thing (v. 3). Thus John presents a 
 further piece of evidence in support of his principal 
 theme. 
 
 In this section we come upon the first instances 
 of the deep teaching whereof this Gospel is full. 
 The ideas of the new birth, of being born from 
 above, of believing, are the same ideas as those 
 that Jesus afterwards insisted on in many a con- 
 versation with the hostile Jews. When, for 
 instance. He spoke of being Himself the Bread of 
 Life whereof man must partake, etc.. He was 
 really reproducing the conception (that man must 
 connect himself with a heavenly source of life) 
 which He here presents. 
 
 Some critics think that the passage beginning 
 at 3. 14 is not part of Christ's utterance to 
 Nicodemus, but contains reflections of the Evangel- 
 ist himself; and some, admitting vv. 14< and 15 as 
 part of the conversation, hold that the Evangelist's 
 own remarks begin with v. l6. It seems much 
 more probable, however, that Jesus, having 
 mentioned ^'^ heavenly things" in v. 12, went on 
 to speak of some of the truths conjured up in 
 His mind by the phrase — vv. 14-21 thus forming 
 a sort of soliloquy spoken in Nicodemus' presence, 
 though not precisely addressed to Nicodemus 
 himself. 
 
 23. the miracles which he did. No details 
 of these miracles are given. They form part of 
 the unwritten history referred to in 21. 25. 
 
 24. did not commit himself. The original 
 
6o Westminster New Testament 
 
 word is the same as that translated " believed " in 
 V. 23. They believed Jesus^ but inasmuch as 
 their belief was based simply upon their sight of 
 miracles^ Jesus could not rely upon it. He could 
 not trust their trust, 
 
 25. he knew, etc. As He had done in the 
 case of Nathanael (1. 47). 
 
 1. a ruler of the Jews. A member of the 
 Sanhedrin. 
 
 2. thou art a teacher come from God. A 
 non-committal utterance. This much might have 
 been said of many. Nicodemus wants to see what 
 Christ will say, and begins the talk by throwing 
 out this tentative remark. 
 
 3. Jesus at once brings things to the decisive 
 point. It would be an astonishment to Nicodemus 
 to find this teacher — his own junior — taking this 
 tone. He had come to examine Jesus : he is at 
 once driven to examine himself. 
 
 born again. The idea of a new birth was in a 
 manner familiar to the Jews ; for they used to say 
 of a proselyte from heathenism that he was a new- 
 born child. Of course Jesus gave a much deeper 
 meaning to the phrase, but it should have found a 
 point of sympathetic contact in Nicodemus' mind. 
 The teaching is that the true life consists, not in 
 a mere improvement of what already is — not 
 in an enlargement of ideals or an intensification 
 of morality — but in an absolutely new beginning, 
 an attachment of the nature to a heavenly 
 source. 
 
 4. Nicodemus, in his hesitancy, fences with the 
 idea. Since the conception was not quite strange, 
 the assumption of misunderstanding in this verse 
 cannot have been quite sincere. He may not have 
 
St. John 6i 
 
 understood all that Jesus meant, but he knew 
 better than this remark implies. 
 
 5. Jesus repeats His assertion in slightly 
 different form, of water refers to the need of re- 
 pentance, as proclaimed in the baptism of John, 
 the need of a real separation from the past before the 
 true life can be begun, of the Spirit refers to the 
 positive side — to the need for a real attachment of 
 the nature to a spiritual source. That this positive 
 ministry would be the special ministry of Christ, 
 the Baptist himself had foretold (l. 33, 34; 
 Luke 3. 16). 
 
 6f 7. Jesus insists on the essential reasonable- 
 ness of what He has said. How can anything 
 spiritual be born except from a spiritual source ? 
 
 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, etc. 
 The point of the verse is again to emphasise the 
 reasonableness of the demand that has been made. 
 Just as you cannot put your finger upon the 
 starting-point of the wind, so there is nothing in 
 this world to which you can point as being an 
 adequate source of a spiritual life. The significant 
 thing is not, as is frequently supposed, that the 
 Spirit is of unknown origin, but that everT/ one 
 born of the Spirit is of an origin unknown in this 
 world. " So is every one that is born of the Spirit." 
 Everything spiritual must be from above. 
 
 9. The persistent failure of Nicodemus to under- 
 stand shows how far religion had degenerated 
 among the teachers of the people. 
 
 10. Art thou a master? etc. Better, as in 
 R.V., "Art thou the teacher.^" — with emphasis on 
 the. Nicodemus was taken as the special repre- 
 sentative of his class. The remark of Jesus is in 
 the nature of reproof and gentle sarcasm. 
 
62 Westminster New Testament 
 
 11. In this verse the inner consciousness of 
 Jesus speaks. All this that He has been declaring 
 He knows, so to say, at first hand — knows through 
 His intimate relation with God. Yet to this man, 
 who should have recognised it as true, it is all so 
 strange ! 
 
 12. And this brings home to Jesus how the 
 further proclamations of His gospel will also be 
 misunderstood and rejected, earthly things. The 
 necessity for a new birth was so patent a thing 
 that it might be called an ^''earthly thing." If 
 this was doubted, what use to tell deeper truths } 
 
 13. Yet Jesus, forced on, as it were, by some 
 inner impulse, proceeds to speak of the "heavenly 
 things " after all. And the first truth is this — 
 that no man has found the true way to the 
 spiritual source v/hereto life must be attached, but 
 that in Himself the spiritual life has come down. 
 It is from heaven man must be born, yet man 
 cannot reach to heaven. But in Him, the Christ, 
 heaven has come down to man. 
 
 14. 15. See above. Here Jesus has a wistful 
 forward look. The thought of Himself as the 
 means whereby the new life was brought to men 
 (v. 13) leads Him on to think of the cost at 
 which the mission was to be discharged, believeth 
 and eternal life are among the characteristic words 
 of this Gospel. 
 
 16. For God so loved, etc. As though Jesus 
 Avould say, " Does this demand for a new birth 
 sound stern? It is out of Love that it has come, 
 and Love has provided a way whereby it may be 
 fulfilled." Note, too, the universality of the scope 
 of the salvation — "the world" (compare 1. 2.9). 
 
 17. to condemn. Better, as in R.V., "to 
 
St. John 63 
 
 judge." The Messiah's coming, according to the 
 Jews, was for the purpose of sitting in judgment 
 upon the Gentile nations. Jesus lias a more 
 beneficent purpose than this. 
 
 IS. Yet there must be a judgment. He who 
 does not receive the Christ is ^'judged already" — 
 has declared what manner of man he is. It is 
 impossible for Jesus to come and make His ojffer of 
 good without forcing some to condemn themselves. 
 
 19. A repetition of the idea. Perhaps there 
 may be a reference to the ffict that Nicodemus 
 came to Jesus by night, and a desire to lead him 
 to self-searching. What was the real reason for 
 his choice of the darkness ? Was it, perchance, 
 because " deeds wxre evil " } 
 
 20, 21. A plain statement, probably for the 
 further warning of Nicodemus, that in the last re- 
 sort a rejection of Jesus could only come, not from 
 mere indifference, but from sin, and from the love 
 of it. This is the claim which Jesus made on many 
 occasions — that anyone with a real love for good- 
 ness would admit His moral and spiritual supremacy. 
 
 John 3. 22-36. 
 THE BAPTIST'S THIRD TESTIMONY. 
 
 22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into 
 the land of Judea ; and there he tarried with them, 
 
 23 and baptized. And John also was baptizing in lEnon 
 near to Salim, because there was much water there : 
 
 24 and they came, and were baptized. For John was 
 
 25 not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a ques- 
 tion between some of John's disciples and the Jews 
 
 26 about purifying. And they came unto John, and said 
 
64 Westminster New Testament 
 
 unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond 
 Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the 
 
 27 same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John 
 answered and said, A man can receive nothing, 
 
 28 except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves 
 bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, 
 
 29 but that I am sent before him. He that hath the 
 bride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bride- 
 groom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth 
 greatly because of the bridegroom's voice : this my 
 
 30 joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I 
 
 31 must decrease. He that cometh from above is 
 above all : he that is of the earth is earthly, and 
 speaketh of the earth : he that cometh from heaven 
 
 32 is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, 
 that he testifieth ; and no man receiveth his testi- 
 
 33 mony. He that hath received his testimony hath 
 
 34 set to his seal that God is true. For he whom 
 God hath sent speaketh the words of God : for God 
 
 35 giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The 
 Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things 
 
 36 into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath 
 everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son 
 shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth 
 on him. 
 
 In this paragraph the Evangelist temporarily 
 shifts the emphasis back from Jesus to the fore- 
 runner. It may be conjectured that one reason 
 for his doing so was to correct a misunderstanding 
 which^ at the time of Mriting, had become pre- 
 valent, as to the time of the Baptist's imprisonment. 
 V. 24 seems to indicate that this imprisonment had 
 been supposed to have taken place immediately 
 after Christ's Baptism and Temptation. The 
 EvangeUst therefore records a period of Christ's 
 
St. John 65 
 
 ministry (to close of chapter 4) of which the 
 others had not told. It was after the conclusion 
 of this section of the ministry that the Baptist was 
 put into prison. There was probaWy, however^ 
 another reason for turning back to the Baptist. 
 The Apostle wished to show how the earlier 
 testimonies of the Baptist were adhered to^ and 
 repeated, when the Baptist might perhaps have 
 been expected to speak in another tone. He 
 himself was losing ground compared with the new 
 Teacher — yet so profound is his conviction of that 
 Teacher's divine commission, that he rejoices rather 
 than grieves, thus affording fresh proof of the holy 
 majesty that dwelt in Christ. 
 
 It is necessary, in vv. 31-36, to distinguish 
 between the words which are the Baptist's own 
 and those which the Evangelist has added ; or 
 rather, it is necessary to recognise that the two 
 are intertwined. Some of the phrases, such as 
 tliose contained in v. 36, are eminently character- 
 istic of the Evangelist's own style. This must not, 
 however, be pressed too far ; and doubtless the 
 Baptist uttered in his own speech the equivalents 
 of the ideas which the Apostle sets down in 
 his. 
 
 22. Finding that the faith with which He was 
 greeted at Jerusalem was not of the right order 
 (2. 23-25), Jesus leaves the city. 
 
 23. There is an Ainun, east of Shechem, which 
 is usually taken to be the place referred to. This 
 Ainun is near to Salim, as was the one spoken of. 
 
 24. See above. 
 
 25. the Jews. Properly, "with a Jew," as in 
 R.V. Some Jew had inquired as to the relation 
 between the work of the Baptist and the work of 
 
 5 
 
66 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Jesus ; and the question awoke the Baptist's 
 disciples to realise how their master was being 
 supplanted by the One for whom he had prepared 
 the way. 
 
 26. to whom thou barest witness. Note 
 
 the tone of disappointment and querulousness. 
 " You bare witness of this Teacher, and this is how 
 He requites you ! " 
 
 27. " If you have nothing more against Him 
 than that He is benefiting the multitudes, that is 
 in itself a sign of His heavenly commission." 
 
 28-30. the friend of the bridegroom. That 
 is, he who arranges the marriage-contract. His 
 joy is entirely in the bridegroom's joy. So the 
 Baptist had, as it were, prepared for the marriage 
 between the Messiah and His people — what greater 
 joy could he have than to see the Bridegroom 
 coming into His own ? 
 
 31. So profound is the Baptist's humility, that 
 he speaks of his own ministry, in contrast with 
 that of Jesus, as being ^^ earthly." 
 
 32. And what he hath seen and heard, etc. 
 The Baptist, if the words be his, refers to the 
 closeness of contact with God out of which he 
 knows Jesus came. They are in a manner a 
 repetition of I. 18 — which verse, being the Evangel- 
 ist's, nevertheless is also connected with the 
 Baptist's testimony given in 1. 15. The coinci- 
 dence makes it probable that, even if 3. 32 be 
 verbally the Evangelist's, the Baptist expressed the 
 same idea. 
 
 and no man receiveth his testimony. This 
 must be the Evangelist's dictum, as it does not 
 harmonise with the statement (v. 26) that "all 
 men come to him." The Apostle looks back from 
 
St. John 67 
 
 a later time, and sees how little the rush of the 
 multitudes to Jesus really meant. 
 
 33. This, also, being consequent upon v. 32, 
 must be the Evangelist's own. He who has really 
 received the witness of Jesus has always proved 
 (the Apostle, when he writes, has a long enough 
 Christian history behind him to assert it) that 
 divineness is in Him. 
 
 34. This is the Baptist's testimony, resumed 
 from V. 31 or v. 32. 
 
 by measure. That is, in limited measure. 
 
 35j 36. Probably the Baptist's ideas expressed 
 in the Apostle's words. The thought makes a 
 worthy close to the Baptist's testimony to Jesus — 
 and, moreover, brings the testimony of the Baptist 
 up to the level of Christ's own words concerning 
 Himself. Compare vv. 16, 18. 
 
 John 4. 1-42. 
 
 JESUS IN SAMARIA. 
 
 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees 
 had heard that Jesus made and baptized more 
 
 2 disciples than John, (though Jesus himself baptized 
 
 3 not, but his disciples,) he left Judaea, and departed 
 
 4 again into Galilee. And he must needs go through 
 
 5 Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, 
 which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground 
 
 6 that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's 
 well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with 
 his journey, sat thus on the well ; and it was about 
 
 7 the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria 
 to draw water : Jesus saith unto her, Give me to 
 
68 Westminster New Testament 
 
 8 drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the 
 
 9 city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of 
 Samaria unto him. How is it that thou, being a Jew, 
 askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria ? 
 for the Jews have no deahngs with the Samaritans. 
 
 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest 
 the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, 
 Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of him, 
 
 1 1 and he would have given thee Uving water. The 
 woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to 
 draw with, and the well is deep : from whence then 
 
 12 hast thou that living water ? Art thou greater 
 than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and 
 drank thereof himself, and his children, and his 
 
 13 cattle ? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whoso- 
 
 14 ever drinketh of this water shall thirst again : but 
 whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give 
 him shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall 
 give him shall be in him a well of water springing 
 
 15 up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto 
 him. Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither 
 
 16 come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her. Go, 
 
 17 call thy husband, and come hither. The woman 
 answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said 
 unto her. Thou hast well said, I have no husband : 
 
 18 for thou hast had five husbands ; and he whom 
 thou now hast is not thy husband : in that saidst 
 
 19 thou truly. The woman saith unto him. Sir, I 
 
 20 perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers 
 worshipped in this mountain ; and ye say, that in 
 Jerusalemx is the place where men ought to worship. 
 
 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour 
 cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor 
 
 22 3^et at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship 
 ye know not what : we know what we worship : 
 
 23 for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, 
 and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship 
 
St. John 69 
 
 the Father in spirit and in truth : for the Father 
 
 24 seeketh such to worship him, God is a Spirit ; 
 and they that worship him must worship him in 
 
 25 spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, 
 I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ : 
 
 26 when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus 
 
 27 saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And 
 upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he 
 talked with the woman : yet no man said, "What 
 seekest thou ? or. Why talkest thou with her ? 
 
 28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her 
 
 29 way into the city, and saith to the men. Come, see 
 a man, which told me all things that ever I did : 
 
 30 is not this the Christ ? Then they went out of the 
 
 31 city, and came unto him. In the mean while his 
 
 32 disciples prayed him, saying. Master, eat. But he 
 said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know 
 
 33 not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, 
 
 34 Hath any man brought him ought to eat ? Jesus 
 saith unto them. My meat is to do the will of him 
 
 35 that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye. 
 There are yet four months, and then cometh har- 
 vest ? behold, I say unto you. Lift up your eyes, 
 and look on the fields ; for they are white already 
 
 36 to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, 
 and gathereth fruit unto life eternal : that both he 
 that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice to- 
 
 n gether. And herein is that saying true. One soweth^ 
 
 38 and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that 
 whereon ye bestowed no labour : other men laboured, 
 
 39 and ye are entered into their labours. And many 
 of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for 
 the saying of the woman, which testified, He told 
 
 40 me all that ever I did So when the Samaritans 
 were come unto him they besought him that he 
 would tarry with them : and he abode there two 
 
 41 days. And many more believed because of his 
 
70 Westminster New Testament 
 
 42 own word ; and said unto the woman. Now we 
 believe, not because of thy saying : for we have 
 heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed 
 the Christ, the Saviour of the world. 
 
 It must be remembered, in reading the account 
 of Christ's dealings with the Samaritan woman, 
 that the facts of her history by no means imply 
 any extreme depravity in the woman herself. 
 Probably she was a victim at least as much as she 
 was a sinner ; and the " five husbands " through 
 whose hands she had passed may have divorced 
 her for the most frivolous of reasons (since this 
 had become possible among the Jews), and so have 
 driven her at last into wrong. And Christ's treat- 
 ment of her supports this view, inasmuch as He 
 deals with her in all tenderness, and administers 
 no severity of reproof. His whole method with 
 her is directed towards making her realise her own 
 need — realise how greatly, for the restoration of 
 her own maimed and spoilt life, she needs the 
 "living water" He has to give. The narrative 
 itself presents hardly any points of difficulty, and 
 calls for but little in the way of comment. 
 
 1-3. Not wishing to draw upon Himself pre- 
 maturely the open hostility of the Pharisees (who 
 would resent the growing influence of Jesus even 
 more than they resented that of the Baptist), Jesus 
 quits Judaea for Galilee. 
 
 4. Samaria. Originally the name of a city 
 (for origin, see 1 Kings I6. 23, 24). It came, 
 however, to be the name of the whole province, 
 and is so used here. The inhabitants of the 
 province were a race descended from those Israelites 
 who had been left when the bulk of the population 
 
St. John 71 
 
 had been carried away captive, and from Uie 
 strangers who had been introduced to fill the 
 depopulated land (2 Kings 17. 24 etc.). These 
 people had not been allowed a share in the work 
 of rebuilding the Temple (Ezra 4), and from this 
 time onward the feud had been kept alive. 
 
 5, 6. Sychar. Identified with 'Askar^ which is 
 a village close to Shechem (whose modern name is 
 Nablous). Jacob's well is still in existence^ 
 although not so deep as formerly, and water is 
 only found in it at times. 
 
 9. See on v. 4, for one reason why the woman 
 was astonished at being addressed. Another 
 reason lay in the fact that she was a woman, for it 
 was against the teaching of the Rabbis for a Jew 
 to speak to a woman in public. See v. 27. 
 
 10. This verse reveals the longing of Christ's 
 heart to heal this wounded soul before Him. If 
 thou knewest the gift of God — if you under- 
 stood the greatness of your opportunity ! living 
 water. Compare 7. 38. 
 
 11. The woman gives a half-serious answer, 
 taking Christ's words literally, although suspecting 
 that some hidden meaning lay beneath. The fact 
 that she gives to Jesus the title of " Sir " shows that 
 she is at least impressed. 
 
 13, 14. Jesus again insists on raising her thought 
 from the material to the spiritual. 
 
 15. The woman still lingers upon the lower 
 plane. This second reply, however, marks an ad- 
 vance upon the first, inasmuch as it practically 
 admits that Jesus had the power of satisfying her 
 which He claimed. 
 
 16. If the phrase may be permitted, Jesus seizes 
 upon the "psychological moment" of the conver- 
 
72 Westminster New Testament 
 
 sation. The woman^ in order to comprehend her 
 need, must be made to comprehend her sin. 
 
 17, 18. The woman's reply to Jesus was of 
 course a half-truth only. Jesus at once shows her 
 that she cannot deceive Him. As He had known 
 Nathanael (1. 47, 48), so He knew this woman and 
 her secret heart. 
 
 19j, 20. Forced to admit that the stranger was 
 not an ordinary man, the woman makes an attempt 
 to turn the conversation from her own private 
 affairs to the general subjects of controversy be- 
 tween Samaritans and Jews. 
 
 this mountain. Gerizim. It was held to have 
 derived its sacredness from the events recorded in 
 Deut. 27. 11, 12. 
 
 21-24. In His answer, Jesus devotes a few words 
 (v. 22) to the controversial matter which the 
 woman has raised. He vindicates the Jews against 
 the Samaritans, declaring that " salvation is of the 
 Jews." The Jews, that is, possessed the larger 
 revelation of God, inasmuch as the Samaritans re- 
 pudiated all the Scriptures except the Pentateuch. 
 This declaration, however, is only a parenthesis in 
 the enunciation of a greater idea — the idea that 
 the true worship is not a matter of place and 
 ceremonial at all, but a matter of spirit and of 
 heart (vv. 21, 23). V. 24 proclaims that God, being 
 Himself Spirit and Truth, must be worshipped in 
 spirit and truth — the principle being that the 
 rendering of acceptable worship demands in the 
 worshipper a likeness of disposition to that of God. 
 
 25. The Samaritans, like the Jews, had a Mes- 
 sianic hope. Their titles for the coming One were 
 the "Guide" and the "Converter." 
 
 26. Contrast this open avowal of Messiahship 
 
St. John 73 
 
 with the avoidance of such an avowal whicli Jesus 
 practised among His own people. In Samaria, no 
 consequences of a political kind were likely to 
 follow. 
 
 27. with the woman. Rightly, "with a woman/' 
 as in R.V. See on v. 9- 
 
 28-30. These verses show how greatly the woman 
 had been impressed by her conversation with Jesus. 
 She leaves her waterpot and hurries off to convey 
 to her friends the tidings of the mysterious stranger. 
 If not absolutely convinced that this is the Messiah, 
 her mind at any rate moves that way, for she says, 
 "Is not this the Christ?" 
 
 31-34. The words of Jesus, spoken in reply to 
 the offer of food by the disciples, indicate the 
 yearning passion of ministry which possessed Christ's 
 soul. To have done a work upon the heart of the 
 Samaritan woman w^as meat and drink to Him 
 (v. 34). 
 
 35. Jesus sees the people coming forth to Him 
 from the city (v. 30), and speaks of them as a 
 harvest ready for the sickle. Perhaps the disciples 
 had made some observation about the time to 
 harvest and the condition of the crops (the first 
 part of the verse seems to suggest this). Christ's 
 harvest was not four months ahead — it was 
 now. 
 
 36-38. The disciples would have a part in the 
 reaping which was shortly to take place (vv. 39-42), 
 but no part in the sowing had been theirs. They 
 would rejoice with the Sower (v. 36), and enter 
 into the fruit of labours which they themselves 
 had not performed. 
 
 39, 40. Two results are announced as having 
 followed the conversation at the well. These verses 
 
74 Westminster New Testament 
 
 give the first. Many of the Samaritans believed 
 because of the woman's account. 
 
 they besought him that he would tarry 
 with them. A striking proof of the effect pro- 
 duced. These people overcame the dislike and 
 prejudice which they must have felt against a Jew. 
 
 41 J 42. These verses give the second result. 
 The hearsay faith with which many began changed 
 to a faith based on their own personal experience. 
 
 the Saviour of the world. A large expression 
 to come from these Samaritan lips. To have found 
 the Messiah in one of the race they hated, 
 had made all barriers between man and man of 
 no account in their thought. The idea of the 
 universality of salvation sprang up as it were 
 spontaneously within their minds. 
 
 John 4. 43-54. 
 JESUS AND THE NOBLEMAN'S SON. 
 
 43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went 
 
 44 into GaHlee. For Jesus himself testified, that a 
 
 45 prophet hath no honour in his own country. Then 
 when he was come into Galilee, the Gahlaeans re- 
 ceived him, having seen all the things that he did 
 at Jerusalem at the feast : for they also went unto 
 
 46 the feast. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, 
 where he made the water wine. And there was a 
 certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 
 
 47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea 
 into Gahlee, he went unto him, and besought him 
 that he would come down, and heal his son : for he 
 
 48 was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto 
 
St. John 75 
 
 him. Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not 
 
 49 believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come 
 
 50 down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him. Go 
 thy way ; thy son liveth. And the man believed 
 the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he 
 
 51 went his way. And as he was now going down, his 
 servants met him, and told him, saying. Thy son 
 
 52 liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when 
 he began to amend. And they said unto him. 
 Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 
 
 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, 
 in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth : 
 
 54 and himself believed, and his whole house. This 
 is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when 
 he was come out of Judaea into Galilee. 
 
 In this narrative the Evangelist accomplishes a 
 twofold object. He gives an instance of Christ's 
 power to heal, and at the same time shows Christ 
 demanding a higher faith than that implied in a 
 mere desire to see wonders performed. By both 
 means John seeks to deepen the impression of the 
 miiqueness of the character of Jesus. His marvel- 
 lous power — and, on the other hand. His equally 
 marvellous restraint of power — are alike revealed 
 in the narrative, as in the narrative of the first 
 miracle in chapter 2. Jesus is not satisfied with 
 the nobleman's first faith (v. 48) ; but, in response 
 to the suppliant's renewed pleading. He performs 
 the miracle ; and the faith of the nobleman rises 
 to loftier levels (v. 53) at the story's close. 
 
 43. Now after two days. That is, after the 
 two days with the Samaritans spoken of in v. 40. 
 
 44. This verse has occasioned considerable dis- 
 cussion, and various meanings have been found in 
 it. There is, however, no real difficulty. The 
 
76 Westminster New Testament 
 
 question it raises is^ Why^ if Jesus knew tiiat He 
 would have no honour in His own country of 
 Gahlee, should He go there ? The obvious answer 
 is that He wished for quiet after the strain of 
 recent events^ and, precisely because Galilee was 
 the place where He might expect to be neglected, 
 chose to go there. 
 
 45. This verse shows, however, that Jesus did 
 not obtain the quiet He desired. The Galilaeans 
 had seen the miracles at Jerusalem (2. 23) and 
 were anxious for further displays of power. 
 
 46. a certain nobleman. Probably an officer 
 connected with the court of Herod Antipas. 
 Capernaum was twenty miles from Cana, so 
 that the anxious father made a considerable 
 journey. 
 
 48. This is the protest of Jesus against the 
 greed for miracle by which the Galilaeans were 
 just then animated, and an intimation to the 
 nobleman that Jesus must not be looked upon as 
 a mere worker of marvellous things. 
 
 signs and wonders. On "signs," see 2. ii. 
 " Wonders " characterises the miracles simply in 
 their external ajjpearance. It is, for instance, the 
 word which might be applied to a conjurer's tricks. 
 The use of the two words by Jesus here implies 
 that what to Him were "signs" were to these 
 people only "wonders" — and with this He could 
 not be content. 
 
 49. The nobleman feels that somehow he has 
 not quite struck the right note ; but, not under- 
 standing, he repeat^ his plea with added emphasis 
 and pathos. 
 
 50. the man believed the word, etc. This 
 marks the dawn of a higher faith in the nobleman's 
 
St. John 77 
 
 heart. He had seen no miracle^, but he accepted 
 the statement made by Christ. 
 
 52, 53. Note the eagerness of the nobleman to 
 have his faith confirmed. He inquires anxiously 
 whether the recovery of his son coincided with the 
 speaking of Christ's word. 
 
 Yesterday. Since the day began at sunset^ it 
 was probably on the same day as that of the 
 nobleman's interview with Jesus (according to our 
 reckoning) that the servants and the master met. 
 It is scarcely likely that the nobleman waited 
 through a night before beginning his homeward 
 journey, considering all the circumstances. 
 
 himself believed, and his whole house. 
 The nobleman attained at last to a deeper and 
 fully confirmed faith, a faith of the more spiritual 
 kind which Christ desired. Also all connected 
 with him believed — a fact paralleled by other 
 instances in the New Testament. 
 
 54. the second miracle. The first had been 
 the turning of water into wine. The verse may 
 be paraphrased thus : " This is the second occasion 
 on vvhich Jesus, coming from Judaea into Galilee, 
 performed a miracle." It does not mean that on 
 the occasion of this " coming " there were two 
 miracles. 
 
 John 5. 1-16. 
 
 THE HEALING OF THE IMPOTENT MAN, 
 AND ITS EFFECT UPON THE JEWS. 
 
 After this there was a feast of the Jews ; and Jesus 
 
 2 went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem 
 by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the 
 
 3 Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In 
 
78 Westminster New Testament 
 
 these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of 
 blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the 
 
 4 water. For an angel went down at a certain season 
 into the pool, and troubled the water : whosoever 
 then first after the troubUng of the water stepped 
 in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 
 
 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity 
 
 6 thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, 
 and knew that he had been now a long time in that 
 case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole ? 
 
 7 The impotent man answered him. Sir, I have no 
 man, when the water is troubled, to put me into 
 the pool : but while I am coming, another steppeth 
 
 8 down before me. Jesus saith unto him. Rise, take 
 
 9 up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man 
 was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked : 
 
 ID and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews 
 therefore said unto him that was cured. It is the 
 sabbath day : it is not lawful for thee to carry thy 
 
 1 1 bed. He answered them. He that made me whole, 
 the same said unto me. Take up thy bed, and walk. 
 
 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said 
 
 13 unto thee. Take up thy bed, and walk ? And he 
 that was healed wist not who it was : for Jesus had 
 conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that 
 
 14 place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, 
 and said unto him. Behold, thou art made whole : 
 
 1 5 sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The 
 man departed, and told the Jews thai it was Jesus, 
 
 16 which had made him whole. And therefore did the 
 Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, 
 because he had done these things on the sabbath 
 day. 
 
 In speaking of the divisions of the Gospel (see 
 Introduction), it was said that with the fifth 
 chapter the Evangelist begins a new method. In 
 
St. John 79 
 
 this chapter, and in the following ones down to 
 the eighteenth verse of the tenth, John shows us 
 the inner consciousness of Jesus revealing itself 
 He does not so much speak about Jesus, as let 
 what is within Jesus speak for itself. In this fifth 
 chapter the voice of Christ's consciousness speaks 
 of Him as having ^Mife in Himself" (v. 26, which 
 is the key-verse of the chapter). This conception 
 will be dealt with presently : at present, we are 
 to note that the miracle of this section is the 
 occasion of the subsequent discourse. By the hos- 
 tility which the miracle excited, because it was 
 wrought upon the sabbath, Jesus is moved to the 
 profound utterance contained in the rest of the 
 chapter. The precise line of connection will be 
 seen when the discourse comes under review. 
 
 1. a feast of the Jews. What feast is alluded 
 to has been greatly disputed, and it cannot be 
 said that there is sufficient balance of probability 
 in favour of any one feast to warrant a feeling of 
 certainty. Had it been the Passover, it would 
 probably have been so named, according to the 
 Evangelist's usual practice. Most of those who 
 refuse to identify it with the Passover incline to 
 take it as the feast of Purim ; and although there 
 are difficulties in the way (the fact, for instance, 
 that people did not as a rule go up to Jerusalem 
 for this feast, but kept it at home), it is perhaps 
 the most likely of all. The feast of Purim, which 
 commemorated the deliverance of the Jews by 
 Esther, was held in March ; and from 4. S5 we 
 may gather that at about this season the events of 
 chapter 5 took place. Also the Passover, held in 
 April, was approaching (6. 4). 
 
 2. a pool. The pool has ])een identified in 
 
8o Westminster New Testament 
 
 modern times. The " porches " were the places 
 at the side where the invahds waited for their 
 opportunity. 
 
 Bethesda. Probably signifying " Mercy-house." 
 
 3, 4. The final clause of v. 3 and the whole 
 of V. 4 are omitted in R.V., following the 
 best MSS. They are probably interpolations 
 conveying the popular impression as to the cause 
 of the cures wrought by an intermittent chalybeate 
 spring. 
 
 6, 7. The question put to the sick man by Jesus 
 was intended^ evidently, to rouse him from the 
 despair into which his fruitless waiting had thrust 
 him. The man's reply sounds like a final and 
 hopeless acceptance of failure. So much the more 
 astounding, therefore, must the quickly wrought 
 cure have appeared to him. 
 
 8, 9. The method of the cure is an interesting- 
 illustration of that "life in Himself" whereof 
 Jesus speaks in the subsequent address to the 
 Jews. No touch of the waters upon the man was 
 needed — the simple pressure of Christ's personality 
 upon the man's made the man whole. 
 
 10. It is the sabbath day. A revelation of 
 
 the Jews' state of mind. The miracle itself was 
 nothing to them, and they remained unimpressed. 
 The fact that it was wrought on the sabbath 
 obliterated for them everything else. See v. l6. 
 
 11. The man's reply is just. He asserts, in 
 effect, that the possessor of such a marvellous 
 power was entitled to be a law unto Himself in 
 the matter of sabbath observance. 
 
 14. sin no more. In some way, clearly, the 
 man had brought his illness upon himself. 
 
St. John 8i 
 
 John 5. 17-47. 
 THE DISCOURSE ON "LIFE IN HIMSELF." 
 
 17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh 
 
 18 hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought 
 the more to kill him, because he not only had broken 
 the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, 
 
 19 making himself equal with God. Then answered 
 Jesus and said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you. The Son can do nothing of himself, but what 
 he seeth the Father do : for what things soever 
 
 20 he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For 
 the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all 
 things that himself doeth : and he will shew him 
 
 21 greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For 
 as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth 
 them ; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 
 
 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed 
 
 23 all judgment unto the Son: that all men should 
 honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. 
 He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the 
 
 24 Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say 
 unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth 
 on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall 
 not come into condemnation ; but is passed from 
 
 25 death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you. 
 The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead 
 shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they 
 
 26 that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in 
 himself ; so hath he given to the Son to have life in 
 
 27 himself ; and hath given him authority to execute 
 
 28 judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel 
 not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all 
 
 29 that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and 
 shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto 
 
 6 
 
82 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the resurrection of life ; and they that have done 
 
 30 evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can 
 of mine own self do nothing : as I hear, I judge : 
 and my judgment is just ; because I seek not mine 
 own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent 
 
 31 me. If I bear witness of myself, my \\itness is not 
 
 32 true. There is another that beareth witness of me ; 
 and I know that the witness which he witnesseth 
 
 33 of me is true. Ye sent unto John, and he bare 
 
 34 witness unto the truth. But I receive not testi- 
 mony from man : but these things I say, that ye 
 
 35 might be saved. He was a burning and a shining 
 light : and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in 
 
 $6 his light. But I have greater witness than that of 
 John : for the works which the Father hath given 
 me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness 
 
 27 of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the 
 Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne 
 witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice 
 
 38 at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not 
 his word abiding in you : for whom he hath sent, 
 
 39 him ye believe not. Search the scriptures ; for in 
 them 3^e think 5'e have eternal life : and they are 
 
 40 they which testify of me. And ye vv^ill not come to 
 
 41 me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour 
 
 42 from men. But I know you, that ye have not the 
 
 43 love of God in you. I am come in my Father's 
 name, and ye receive me not : if another shall come 
 
 44 in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye 
 believe, which receive honour one of another, and 
 seek not the honour that cometh from God only ? 
 
 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father : 
 there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom 
 
 46 ye trust. For had ye beheved Moses, ye would 
 
 47 have believed me : for he wTote of mc. But if ye 
 believe not liis writings, how shall ye believe my 
 words ? 
 
St. John 83 
 
 This section contains the profound discourse 
 spoken by Jesus in reply to the criticism of the 
 Jews. The discourse is, however, much more 
 than a reply to that criticism ; for, although Jesus 
 briefly liotices the charge of sabbath-breaking 
 (v. 17), He immediately passes on to greater 
 themes. As previously said, the key-verse of the 
 discourse — indeed, of the whole Gospel — is v. 26. 
 The great assertion is that the creative power of 
 the Father has been bestow^ed upon the Son, so 
 that the Son is able literally and actually to 
 produce a new life in those who identify themselves 
 with Him. Jesus claims herein to be much more 
 than a Teacher, much more even than One in 
 complete harmony with God. He claims to 
 possess a delegated creative power. In this way 
 does Jesus express, out of the divine consciousness 
 in Him, His mission to the world. From the 
 miracle He has performed upon the impotent man 
 — which has been an example of creative power in 
 exercise — His thought passes on to the larger and 
 more spiritual life-giving ministry which He came 
 to work. 
 
 17. This verse contains Christ's brief answer — 
 the only answer He deigns to give — to the 
 accusation of breaking the sabbath. Its point is 
 this, that the Father has continued His Mork of 
 beneficent kindness to the world even since His 
 original work of creation closed — Christ Himself 
 was therefore, in His work of mercy, doing what 
 the Father did. If God worked after the period 
 of sabbath-rest began (Gen. 2. 1-3), no charge 
 could lie against the Son for doing likewise. 
 
 19, 20. In this great assertion of complete 
 harmony between the Father and Himself, Jesus 
 
84 Westminster New Testament 
 
 flings out a challenge to His foes. He does not 
 merely defend Himself against their criticism, but 
 makes an assertion which He knows will anger 
 them still more. And He goes even further than 
 this assertion, as we shall presently see. Jesus is 
 working up, so to say, to the great idea of v. 26. 
 
 21-23. This is a further step in the assertion. 
 Not only is the Son in complete harmomj with the 
 Father, as stated in vv. 19, 20, but the Son has 
 the Father's power of life-giving. 
 
 whom he will. That is, the Son decides 
 whether in any soul the necessary conditions have 
 been fulfilled. V. 22 insists on the same idea. 
 The Son judges for Himself. He makes His 
 conditions, and calls for their fulfilment. 
 
 24, 25. A repetition of the same idea of life- 
 giving, but with an added element. The life 
 given by the Son is ^^everlasting." There is 
 nothing temporary about His work, and no revision 
 of His judgment. 
 
 the dead. There is doubtless a reference to 
 life on its physical side, but the spiritual life-giving 
 is the important idea. 
 
 26. This is the crowning statement. Lest the 
 foregoing should in some way have failed to convey 
 its meaning to the listeners' minds, or lest they 
 should discover some possible evasion of its sig- 
 nificance, by which the Son should be belittled, 
 Christ once more asserts the reality of His life- 
 giving power in plainest terms. He is no unknow- 
 ing instrument in the Father's hands. He has 
 ^Hife in Himself," and the actual power of creative 
 initiative possessed by the Father has been given 
 into His keeping. 
 
 27. authority to execute judgment, etc. 
 
St. John 85 
 
 Judgment — discrimination among the varying 
 natures of men — is in the hands of One who Himself 
 shares humanity. This endowment of Ufe-giving 
 power, of which Christ has been speakino-, does not 
 make Him any the less man. And man cannot 
 plead that the Judge is too far removed from him 
 to understand the case He judges. 
 
 28, 29. Marvel not at this. A silencing of 
 the critics' rising astonishment. " Do not marvel 
 at this — spare your wonder — for there is something 
 still more surprising to be said." And the more 
 surprising thing is the subsequent announcement of 
 a final judgment of the whole world for which 
 the Son shall give the signal. It seems as if Jesus 
 were bent upon forcing His enemies to face His ut- 
 most claims, and either to accept them or to reject. 
 
 30. The ^^ I " is emphatic. The utterance of 
 this verse combines a perfect humility with a 
 remarkable self-assertion. Of Himself Jesus could 
 do nothing, but through His relation with God He 
 could do all. 
 
 31. Perhaps some of those standing by charged 
 Jesus with bearing witness of Himself, or perhaps 
 Jesus replies to an unspoken charge which He knew 
 was in their minds. In this instance He takes 
 them on their ground, and proceeds on the 
 assumption that He has other witness than His own, 
 and that the bearing of witness to Himself would 
 discredit Him. But compare 8. 14, where Jesus 
 takes a different line. 
 
 32. This refers to the inward witness of God in 
 the consciousness of Jesus. 
 
 33. Since the Jews, however, would take v. 32 
 as referring to the Baptist, Jesus goes on to speak 
 of him. 
 
86 Westminster New Testament 
 
 34, 35. Jesus put the testimony of the Baptist 
 far below that of His own inner sense, and Himself 
 had no need of it. But for the listeners' sakes, 
 He spoke of it. 
 
 ye were willing for a season, etc. Spoken 
 of the people as a whole, and referring to the 
 multitudes who had crowded to the baptism of 
 John. How little had come of it ! 
 
 36. the works which the Father hath 
 given me, etc. This presses the matter closer 
 home. These ^' works " at least were undeniable. 
 But the Jews said of them that they were wrought 
 by evil agency — thus proving that they ivould not 
 be impressed. 
 
 37. the Father himself. Probably meaning 
 that the Father had borne witness in the Scriptures 
 of which He is about to speak. Jesus turns aside 
 for a moment in the last clause of the verse and in 
 V. 38 to assure the Jews that they did not know 
 at all the God whom they thought they knew so 
 well. 
 
 39, 40. Search. Or, "Ye search," although the 
 A.V. makes the utterance more pointed. If there 
 was one thing these people thought they knew, 
 it was the Scripture. Yet, with all their study, 
 they had missed the very thing the Scripture had 
 to teach. 
 
 41, 42. Jesus asserts that it was not concern for 
 His own honour, but concern for the hearers' 
 spiritual state, by which He was moved. 
 
 43. Almost a touch of sarcasm. The Jews were 
 always running after false Messiahs,^and so it would 
 be again. 
 
 44. The Jews, with their social and ecclesiastical 
 distinctions, had lost all sense of what constituted 
 
St. John 87 
 
 true worth. It was a practically impossible thing, 
 therefore, for them to recognise and believe in the 
 spiritual w^orth of Christ. 
 
 45_47. Again a touch of something like sarcasm. 
 These people were always invoking the authority 
 of Moses, justifying themselves in what they did by 
 an appeal to his words. And this Moses, " in 
 whom ye trust," will turn your accuser ! 
 
 John 6. 1-14. 
 THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND. 
 
 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, 
 
 2 which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude 
 followed him, because they saw his miracles which 
 
 3 he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went 
 up into a mountain, and there he sat with his dis- 
 
 4 ciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was 
 
 5 nigh. When Jesus then Ufted up his eyes, and saw 
 a great company come unto him, he saith unto 
 PhiUp, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may 
 
 6 eat ? And this he said to prove him : for he him- 
 
 7 self knew what he would do. PhiHp answered him. 
 Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient 
 for them, that every one of them may take a little. 
 
 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, 
 
 9 saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five 
 barley loaves, and two small fishes : but what are 
 
 10 they among so many ? And Jesus said. Make the 
 men sit down. Now there was much grass in the 
 place. So the men sat down, in number about five 
 
 1 1 thousand. And Jesus took the loaves ; and when 
 he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, 
 and the disciples to them that were set down ; and 
 
88 Westminster New Testament 
 
 12 likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When 
 they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather 
 up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 
 
 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled 
 twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley 
 loaves, which remained over and above unto them 
 
 14 that had eaten. Then those men, when they had 
 seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a 
 truth that prophet that should come into the world. 
 
 In this chapter, Jesus, again revealing the depths 
 of His inner consciousness, repeats in another form 
 the idea of the chapter which went before. In 
 the fifth chapter He has spoken of having " life in 
 Himself," and has indicated, as a consequence, 
 that by an actual identification of man with Christ 
 is the benefit of Christ's ministry received. In the 
 sixth the same conception is presented under the 
 metaphor of bread, and Christ speaks of Himself as 
 the "Bread of Life." As in the previous chapter, 
 so in this, the discourse springs from a miracle ; 
 and it is with the miracle that this preliminary 
 section is concerned. 
 
 This miracle, wdth the subsequent discourse, 
 belongs to Galilee, while those of the previous 
 chapter belong to Jerusalem. The setting of the 
 two in this close proximity illustrates the Evangel- 
 ist's principle of selection. He aims at setting 
 down, in this part of his Gospel, those utterances 
 of Jesus in which His inmost consciousness finds 
 expression. 
 
 1. After these things. The expression is very 
 indefinite as to time, and must not be taken as 
 meaning directly after what has just been narrated. 
 It is thought by some (specially by Wellhausen 
 of late) that things become clearer if chapters 5 
 
St. John 89 
 
 and 6 are transposed. Certainly 6. 1 would follow 
 easily upon 4. 54, and 5. 1 upon 6. 71, and 
 7. 1 upon 5. 47. But there hardly seems any 
 real necessity for the rearrangement, plausible 
 as it is. 
 
 the sea of Galilee. See Introduction, p. 18. 
 
 4. the passover . . . was nigh. Perhaps 
 inserted to explain the large number of the people. 
 There would be many pilgrims on the way to 
 Jerusalem for the feast. 
 
 5, 6. Philip seems to have been prosaic, some- 
 what narrow in outlook, with little apprehension 
 of spiritual realities and forces. (Compare 14. 8.) 
 Jesus takes the opportunity of showing him how 
 the matter-of-fact view of a situation may fail to 
 exhaust it. 
 
 7. Two hundred pennyworth. About £7, 
 Philip probably fixes on a sum far above the total 
 of what they possessed. " Even if we had that 
 impossible amount ! " 
 
 12, 13. The gathering of the fragments would 
 afford indisputable evidence of the miracle that had 
 been wrought. 
 
 14. that prophet. See on 1. 21. 
 
 John 6. 15-21. 
 
 AN INTERLUDE: JESUS WALKS UPON 
 THE SEA. 
 
 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would 
 come and take him by force, to make him a king, 
 he departed again into a mountain himself alone. 
 
 16 And when even was now come, his disciples went 
 
90 Westminster New Testament 
 
 17 down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and 
 went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was 
 
 18 now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And 
 the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 
 
 19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty 
 or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the 
 sea, and drawing nigh unto - the ship : and they 
 
 20 were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I ; be 
 
 21 not afraid. Then they willingly received him into 
 the ship : and immediately the ship was at the land 
 whither they went. 
 
 The incident of the walking upon the sea is 
 inserted here in order to preserve historic con- 
 tinuity^ as the subsequent discourse was spoken 
 in a different place from that where the miracle 
 was wrought. The incident also affords another 
 instance of the supernatural power of Jesus, and 
 therefore assists John's main purpose. It is 
 interesting to note that the preceding miracle, 
 and the walking upon the sea, together make up 
 the only event recorded in all four Gospels — of 
 course leaving out of account the final scenes at 
 Jerusalem. Matthew, in his account of this 
 incident (14. 22-33), introduces the additional 
 fact of Peter's walking over the \vaters to Jesus. 
 John, concerned above all things with Jesus 
 Himself, omits this as not relevant to his primary 
 aim. 
 
 15. When Jesus therefore perceived, etc. 
 
 The enthusiasm of the multitude had no real 
 spiritual basis. They saw, or thought they saw, 
 a possibility of permanent material enrichment, 
 and were anxious to elevate Him who could 
 provide that enrichment to the highest place. 
 The spiritual side of the miracle — the divine 
 
St. John 91 
 
 character of Him by whom it was wrought — had 
 been quite overlooked. Cf. v. 26. 
 
 21. willingly. The R.V. better conveys the 
 sense. "They were wilHng therefore to receive/' 
 etc. As Matthew has it, they had supposed Him 
 to be a spirit. The removal of their apprehension 
 removed also their reluctance to admit Jesus into 
 the boat. 
 
 and immediately the ship was at the land, 
 
 etc. Not necessarily indicating anything super- 
 natural, but only that the remainder of the voyage 
 passed without danger or fear. 
 
 John 6. 22-59. 
 
 THE DISCOURSE: JESUS THE BREAD 
 OF LIFE. 
 
 22 The day following, when the people which stood 
 on the other side of the sea saw that there was none 
 other boat there, save that one whereinto his dis- 
 ciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with 
 his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples 
 
 23 were gone away alone ; (howbeit there came other 
 boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they 
 did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks :) 
 
 24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not 
 there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, 
 
 25 and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And 
 when they had found him on the other side of the 
 sea, they said unto him. Rabbi, when earnest thou 
 
 26 hither ? Jesus answered them and said. Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you. Ye seek me, not because ye 
 saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, 
 
 27 and were filled. Labour not for the meat which 
 
92 Westminster New Testament 
 
 perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto 
 everlasting Hie, which the Son of man shall give 
 unto you : for him hath God the Father sealed. 
 
 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that 
 
 29 we might work the works of God ? Jesus answered 
 and said unto them, This is the work of God, that 
 
 30 ye beHeve on him whom he hath sent. They said 
 therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, 
 that we may see, and believe thee ? what dost thou 
 
 31 work ? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert ; 
 as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to 
 
 32 eat. Then Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I 
 say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from 
 heaven ; but my Father giveth you the true bread 
 
 33 from heaven. For the bread of God is he which 
 Cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the 
 
 34 world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore 
 
 35 give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I 
 am the bread of life : he that cometh to me shall 
 never hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall 
 
 36 never thirst. But I said unto you. That ye also 
 
 37 have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father 
 giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh 
 
 38 to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down 
 from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will 
 
 39 of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will 
 which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given 
 me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up 
 
 40 again at the last day. 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 : 
 
 41 and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews 
 then murmured at him, because he said, I am the 
 
 42 bread which came down from heaven. And they 
 said. Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose 
 father and mother we know ? how is it then that he 
 
 43 saith, I came down from heaven ? Jesus therefore 
 
St. John 93 
 
 answered and said unto them, Murmur not among 
 
 44 yourselves. No man can come to me, except the 
 Father which hath sent me draw him : and I will 
 
 45 raise him up at the last day. It is written in the 
 prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. 
 Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned 
 
 46 of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man 
 hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he 
 
 47 hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you. 
 
 48 He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am 
 
 49 that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna 
 
 50 in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the 
 bread which cometh down from heaven, that a 
 
 5 1 man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living 
 bread which came down from heaven : if any man 
 eat of this bread, he shall live for ever : and the 
 bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give 
 
 52 for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove 
 among themselves, saying, How can this man give 
 
 53 us his flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said unto them, 
 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the 
 flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have 
 
 54 no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh 
 my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up 
 
 55 at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and 
 
 56 my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my 
 flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and 
 
 57 I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and 
 I live by the Father : so he that eateth me, even he 
 
 58 shall live by me. This is that bread which came 
 down from heaven : not as your fathers did eat 
 manna, and are dead : he that eateth of this bread 
 
 59 shall live for ever. These things said he in the 
 synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 
 
 As stated previously, this discourse reproduces 
 in a varied form the main idea of the previous one. 
 
94 Westminster New Testament 
 
 As formerly Jesus has indicated, by declaring that 
 He has " life in Himself," that He is the actual 
 Source of true life^ and that man must consequently 
 identify his own personality with that of Jesus in 
 order truly to live, so now He indicates the same 
 idea by saying that He is the "Bread of Life." 
 Man must therefore make himself one with Jesus 
 — must make Jesus one with himself. Christ must 
 be actually received into man for the susteiiance of 
 the spiritual life, as bread is received into man for 
 the sustenance of the physical life. In this way 
 of putting it, Jesus corrects the mistaken mysticism 
 which might be induced by the first way in which 
 the truth has been stated. "Life in Himself" — 
 but it is not a mere matter of inactive contempla- 
 tion. The life and its Giver must be reached out 
 for and seized upon, as bread must be reached 
 out for and seized upon. The suggestion is that of 
 a real activity in the process which unites man 
 with Christ and Christ with man. 
 
 It is to be noted, also, that in this discourse 
 Jesus insists, more constantly than in the previous 
 one, that the life He bestows is " everlastii^g " 
 (vv. 27, 40, 50 etc.). 
 
 22-25. The construction is a little involved. 
 The meaning is that the people had noticed how 
 the disciples went away without Jesus, and ex- 
 pected therefore to find Jesus on the same side as 
 on the previous day. "The other side of the sea " 
 (v. 22) means the other side relatively to that 
 which the disciples (and Jesus) had by this time 
 reached. When the multitude failed to find Jesus, 
 they availed themselves of boats Avhich had come 
 in during the night (v. 23), and crossed over. 
 They were surprised to find that Jesus had 
 
St. John 95 
 
 somehow crossed (v. 25), since no boats had been 
 left after the disciples had set out (v. 22). 
 
 26j 27. Jesus once again^ as we have seen Him 
 do on previous occasions, forces the situation, and 
 drives the talk on to spiritual levels immediately. 
 It is on the question of spiritual sustenance, and 
 on Himself as the Source of it, that He makes the 
 people concentrate their thought. 
 
 28. What shall we do, etc. The question, 
 while to some extent showing an interest in the 
 subject which Jesus had raised, showed also that 
 the questioners had no conception of life except as 
 a reward for doing something. Religion was for 
 them wholly an external matter. 
 
 29. The correction of their externalism is at 
 
 once given, that ye believe on him must of 
 
 course be taken in the full significance of the word 
 "believe" — the significance which in this Gospel 
 (indeed, in the New Testament as a whole) the 
 word nearly always bears. It is not belief in 
 the sense of intellectual assent, but in that of 
 appropriation. 
 
 30. 31. What sign shewest thou? One 
 
 would have supposed that the miracle recorded in 
 this chapter would be sign enough. But they had 
 been fed with merely ordinary bread ; and the 
 Messiah, according to popular expectation, was to 
 provide food from heaven, thus repeating the 
 miracle of the desert manna (v. 31). 
 
 32, 33. Again an effort to force the peoj)le's 
 minds to higher levels. In passing, Jesus tells 
 them that even the desert miracle had been 
 wrought, not by Moses, but by God ; and He 
 declares that the true heavenly bread, which 
 had not been given in the desert, was given now. 
 
96 Westminster New Testament 
 
 34. The demand only shows that Christ's words 
 had not been understood. It shows no spiritual 
 craving. It was still a physical miracle for which 
 they longed. 
 
 35. This may be called the key-verse of the 
 discourse, as v. 26 was of the previous one. It 
 utters the great truth to which the previous sayings 
 of Jesus have been leading up. The declaration of 
 v. 32, that the true bread is given, is intensified 
 into the declaration that Jesus Himself is that 
 true bread. Christ Himself, therefore, not merely 
 something that Christ brings, is what man must 
 receive. 
 
 36. The verse must refer to some unrecorded 
 saying of Jesus in the conversation. 
 
 37-40. These verses probably form something 
 like a soliloquy of Jesus, perhaps heard by the 
 bystanders, but not directly addressed to them. 
 When they again speak (v. 41), it is to v. 35 that 
 they reply. 
 
 All that the Father giveth me, etc. In spite 
 of the hostility and unbelief of those standing by, 
 Jesus was certain that His mission could not fail. 
 These men might refuse to benefit by His mission, 
 but they could not prevent those who followed 
 God's conditions, and who were therefore " given " 
 to Jesus by the Father, from receiving His gift. 
 The verse lends no support to any theory of 
 fatalism, and does not mean that a select number, 
 chosen by God, would be saved. For it must be 
 read in the light of v. 40, which declares that all 
 who will to believe shall live. See also on vv. 44 
 and 45. 
 
 Vv. 38 and 39 reveal Christ's conviction that 
 behind His mission was the eternal Will of God. 
 
St. John 97 
 
 This could not be defeated. The verses repeat 
 more emphatically the statement of v. 37. 
 
 41, 42. A change of temper comes upon the 
 Jews. The decisive moment was come. In face 
 of Christ's assertion they had to take up a definite 
 attitude. And so, in place of the spirit of inquiry 
 previously displa3xd, which, if not free from 
 prejudice, was at any rate something, the spirit of 
 avowed hostility awakes. 
 
 43-45. Jesus makes a call upon them for self- 
 examination. Let them, instead of murmuring, 
 see whether they are among those who have 
 "learned of the Father" (v. 45). 
 
 Vv. 44 and 45 give two parts of one idea. None 
 can come to Jesus except under the drawing of 
 God (v. 44), but all have been taught of God 
 (v. 45), and therefore everyone who has accepted 
 the teaching comes to Jesus. Again, therefore, 
 no fatalistic doctrine is implied. These men could 
 not come, simply because they had refused to be 
 taught and drawn. 
 
 46. Not that any man hath seen, etc. This 
 qualifies somewhat the utterance of v. 45 that 
 all have been taught of God. It is not through 
 sight that the lesson has been given. But it is 
 through sight that Jesus Himself knew the 
 Father. 
 
 47. Note once more the insistence on "ever- 
 lasting life" — an insistence pronounced throughout 
 the discourse. 
 
 48-51. These verses unite the two leading ideas 
 — that of Jesus as the Bread of Life, and that of the 
 everlasting character of the life received through 
 Him. The verses gather up points touched upon 
 in the preceding conversation. 
 
98 Westminster New Testament 
 
 my flesh (v. 51). An allusion to the sacrifice 
 on the Cross which Jesus foresaw. It would not 
 be understood by the hearers ; and the saying is 
 probably again in the nature of a soUloquy, a com- 
 muning of Christ with Himself. See on v. 63. 
 
 52. The Jews therefore strove among 
 themselves. The words of Jesus led to discussion 
 and disagreement among the hearers. Some of 
 them would doubtless take the words literally, 
 while others would seek for a hidden interpretation. 
 
 53-56. Without giving any explanation, Jesus 
 repeats and insists on the idea which has disquieted 
 them. He adds now the conception of " drinking 
 His blood/' as if to give them further matter for 
 thought. This has no reference to the Lord's 
 Supper, as afterwards instituted, but is another 
 allusion to the impending Cross. It was by the 
 giving of Christ's flesh and blood upon the Cross 
 that Jesus became able to give Himself as the 
 Bread of Life to men through all time. 
 
 57. Man is to reproduce, in his attitude to 
 Christ, the attitude which Christ maintains to the 
 Father. Christ takes in the life of the Father — 
 man takes in the life of the Christ — and so man, 
 in receiving Christ, receives God Himself. 
 
 John 6. 60-71. 
 
 THE EFFECT OF THE DISCOURSE UPON 
 SOME OF THE DISCIPLES. 
 
 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had 
 heard this, said. This is an hard saying ; who can 
 
 61 hear it ? When Jesus knew in himself that his 
 disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth 
 
St. John 99 
 
 62 this offend you ? What and if ye shall see the Son 
 
 6$ of man ascend up where he was before ? It is the 
 
 spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing : 
 
 the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, 
 
 64 and they are hfe. But there are some of you that 
 believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning 
 who they were that beheved not, and who should 
 
 65 betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto 
 you, that no man can come unto me, except it were 
 
 66 given unto him of my Father. From that time 
 many of his disciples went back, and walked no 
 
 6y more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, 
 
 68 Will ye also go away ? Then Simon Peter answered 
 him. Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the 
 
 69 words of eternal Ufe. And we beUeve and are sure 
 that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 
 
 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, 
 
 71 and one of you is a devil ? He spake of Judas 
 Iscariot the son of Simon : for he it was that should 
 betray him, being one of the twelve. 
 
 The discourse of Jesus acted as a test and as 
 a deciding force, not only upon the Jews who had 
 been merely indifferent or hostile, but also upon 
 the disciples who had already attached themselves 
 to Jesus. The profounder aspects of discipleship 
 which Jesus was unfolding were too much for some 
 of them. The deeper word is always a word of 
 judgment — a word which divides the true-hearted 
 from the shallow and the false. 
 
 60. of his disciples. Referring, not to the 
 "inner circle/' but to the numbers more or less 
 loosely attached to Jesus. 
 
 an hard saying. A saying hard to compre- 
 hend — also hard in that it made life depend upon 
 surrender and submission, so wounding their pride. 
 
loo Westminster New Testament 
 
 61-63. Jesus speaks of a yet more wonderful 
 thing to be^ as He had done in 5. 28. V. 63 
 affords the explanation. He has been speaking of 
 eating His fleshy yet He now says that it is His 
 spirit that is really to be partaken of, and His use 
 of the word " flesh " has been symbolic only. And 
 in order that men might partake of His spirit. His 
 actual life, to the end of time. He was to ascend 
 again into the heaven whence He had come. 
 
 64, 65. A sudden drop into pathos. Jesus feels 
 the pity of His rejection by these people flooding 
 His soul. '^For Jesus knew," etc., is of course a 
 parenthesis by the Evangelist. 
 
 66-69- Here we have the two results of the 
 discourse. Some went back. Peter, speaking for 
 himself and others, declared his adherence to Jesus. 
 Peter had, doubtless, only partially understood ; 
 but he understood enough to know that the true 
 message was given, and that the Speaker was the 
 anointed one of God. 
 
 the twelve. John has nowhere mentioned the 
 selection of the apostles. He assumes a knowledge 
 of the Synoptic account. 
 
 70, 71. Again a drop into sadness on the part 
 of Jesus as He thinks of what is to be. There 
 was one at least for whom Peter was not 
 speaking. 
 
 John 7. 1-13. 
 
 JESUS AND HIS BRETHREN. 
 
 After these tilings Jesus walked in Galilee : for he 
 
 would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought 
 
 2 to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles 
 
St. John loi 
 
 3 was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto 
 him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy 
 disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 
 
 4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, 
 and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If 
 
 5 thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For 
 
 6 neither did his brethren believe in him. Then Jesus 
 said unto them, My time is not yet come : but your 
 
 7 time is alway ready. The world cannot hate you ; 
 but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the 
 
 8 works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast : 
 I go not up yet unto this feast ; for my time is not 
 
 9 yet full come. When he had said these words unto 
 ID them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his 
 
 brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto 
 
 1 1 the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then 
 the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is 
 
 12 he ? And there was much murmuring among the 
 people concerning him : for some said. He is a good 
 man : others said, Nay ; but he deceiveth the people. 
 
 13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the 
 Jews. 
 
 This entire chapter leads up to the declaration 
 in V. 37 — the verse in which Jesus speaks of 
 Himself as having the living water. John has 
 shown us Jesus claiming to have ^^life in Himself" 
 (chapter .5)^ as claiming to be the Bread of Life 
 (chapter 6), and now he is to show us Jesus pro- 
 claiming the same conception in yet another way. 
 To preserve the historical continuity, however, 
 the Evangelist recalls some of the incidents leading 
 up to the occasion on which the declaration was 
 made. 
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles, round which the 
 incidents of this chapter are grouped, was the feast 
 
I02 Westminster New Testament 
 
 commemorative of Israel's sojourn in the desert. 
 For seven days the people lived in tents, recalling 
 the desert homelessness — on the last day they 
 went ^^ every man mito his own house" (v. 53), 
 symbolising the taking possession of the promised 
 land. See also below, as to the last day of the 
 feast. 
 
 This particular section is preliminary, showing 
 some of the events that took place before Jesus 
 went up to Jerusalem. 
 
 1. Jesus walked in Galilee. As the events 
 of chapter 5 had taken place about the time of the 
 Passover (6. 4), and those of this chapter take 
 place at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, the 
 period during which Jesus ^^ walked in Galilee" 
 was about six months — April to October. 
 
 2. feast of tabernacles. See above. This, 
 with Passover and Pentecost, formed the three 
 great feasts, when every male was expected to 
 present himself before the Lord in the city. 
 
 3-5. His brethren. See on 2. 12. The 
 tradition of antiquity is that they were Joseph's 
 children by a former marriage. 
 
 thy disciples. Referring to the numbers 
 more or less loosely attached to Jesus, or favour- 
 able to Him and His work. 
 
 The mood of the brethren of Jesus was at the 
 least sceptical, if not actually hostile. They 
 pressed Jesus to prove His claims by appearing as 
 the Messiah in the capital, and overbearing all 
 opposition by a display of His power. Then they 
 would believe. Jesus must make a more sensa- 
 tional impression before they would yield. 
 
 6-8. The meaning of the reply is that, while 
 the brethren, being at one with the world, could 
 
St. John 103 
 
 go up to the city without fear, Jesus Himself, 
 being of a different spirit, had incurred and would 
 still incur the hatred of the world. Messiahship, 
 as He understood it, would not be acceptable to 
 the crowd. And His time for creating the final 
 crisis was not yet come. In " I go not up yet unto 
 this feast," this is emphatic. Not at this one, 
 but at another, would Jesus declare Himself as 
 Messiah. 
 
 10. in secret. Jesus went to the feast, not 
 to make the declaration for which His brethren 
 asked, but in a more private fashion. There had 
 been no change of purpose. He carried out His 
 own original plan. And although He afterwards 
 spoke amid the multitudes. He did not follow the 
 line which the brethren had marked out. 
 
 1 1-13. There is a good deal implied in this. The 
 people must have been deeply stirred in regard to 
 Jesus ; and behind these few phrases one discerns 
 how profound an impression had been made. 
 
 John 7. 14-31. 
 JESUS IN CONTROVERSY AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up 
 
 15 into the temple, and taught. And the Jews mar- 
 velled, saying. How knoweth this man letters, 
 
 16 having never learned ? Jesus answered them, and 
 said. My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 
 
 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the 
 doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak 
 
 18 of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his 
 own glory : but he that seeketh his glory that sent 
 
I04 Westminster New Testament 
 
 him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in 
 
 19 him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet 
 none of you keepeth the law ? Why go ye about to 
 
 20 kill me ? The people answered and said, Thou 
 
 21 hast a devil : who goeth about to kill thee ? Jesus 
 answered and said unto them, I have done one work, 
 
 22 and ye all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you 
 circumcision ; (not because it is of Moses, but of 
 the fathers ;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise 
 
 23 a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive cir- 
 cumcision, that the law of Moses should not be 
 broken ; are ye angry at me, because I have made 
 
 24 a man every whit whole on the sabbath day ? Judge 
 not according to the appearance, but judge righteous 
 
 25 judgment. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, 
 
 26 Is not this he, whom they seek to kill ? But, lo, 
 he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. 
 Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very 
 
 27 Christ ? Howbeit we know this man whence he 
 is : but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth 
 
 28 whence he is. Then cried Jesus in the temple as he 
 taught, saying. Ye both know me, and ye know 
 whence I am : and I am not come of myself, but he 
 
 29 that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I 
 know him : for I am from him, and he hath sent me. 
 
 30 Then they sought to take him : but no man laid 
 hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 
 
 31 And many of the people believed on him, and said, 
 When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than 
 these which this man hath done ? 
 
 This section contains some further preliminaries 
 to the central declaration of v. 37. But its con- 
 tents of course possess a great intrinsic interest, 
 both because they help us to realise the atmosphere 
 of controversy by which the city was overhung, 
 and because of tlie utterances of Jesus they report. 
 
St. John 105 
 
 14. and taught. Not, however, proclaiming 
 His Messiahship, as His brethren had desired. 
 Yet it was inevitable that the thought of the 
 people should presently turn in that direction, as 
 it did. (See vv. 26 and 31.) 
 
 1 5. The question does not imply that Jesus had 
 not received the ordinary education of a Jewish 
 child, but that He had not been trained in any 
 Rabbinical school. 
 
 16-19. Jesus claims, in reply, that His wisdom 
 has a higher source than the schools (v. I6). 
 And this would be proved by any who attempted 
 to carry out God's will as Jesus taught it (v. 17). 
 V. 18 implies a contrast between Jesus and the 
 ecclesiastical teachers and authorities of the time, 
 since they thought first and foremost of their own 
 position in all they did. In v. 19 Jesus accuses 
 the people as a whole of disobeying the law of that 
 Moses whom they professed to revere. That is, 
 they did not seek the glory of the Moses by whom 
 they claimed to have been " sent." Their hatred 
 of Him — Jesus — was in itself a proof of their 
 disobedience (see 5. 46). 
 
 20. The people, not knowing how far the 
 opposition of the rulers to Jesus had gone, think 
 the accusation of contemplated murder absurd. 
 But Jesus knew that they would identify them- 
 selves at last with the plans of the authorities. 
 
 21. Jesus reminds them of their feeling towards 
 Him at the time of the healing of the impotent 
 man (chapter 5). This was the beginning of a 
 hatred which would go to greater lengths by and 
 by. " Marvel " means more than wonder — it means 
 wonder tinged with disHke. 
 
 22-21<. Jesus returns to the charge of sabbath- 
 
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 breaking, which had been brought against Him 
 when the previous miracle was wrought. The 
 Jews themselves, He says, break the sabbath when 
 the ordinance of circumcision requires it — why 
 should not He break it for the sake of doing good ? 
 
 therefore (v. 22). This really belongs to the 
 parenthesis, "not because it is of Moses," etc. 
 Incidentally, Jesus remarks that circumcision was 
 of patriarchal origin, and Moses "therefore" 
 perpetuated it. 
 
 25, 26. The people are surprised that the rulers, 
 who had hated Jesus, do not check Him. They 
 begin to ask whether the rulers have changed 
 their minds, and now believe in the claims of 
 Jesus. It was questionings such as these, among 
 other things, that moved the Pharisees to greater 
 activity (v. 32). 
 
 27. The reference is probably to a current idea 
 that the coming of the Messiah would be altogether 
 mysterious. 
 
 28. and I am not come. The "and" is 
 really equivalent to " nevertheless " — a common 
 usage in John. " Ye know whence I am, and 
 yet I am not come whence you think." 
 
 29. But I know him. The assertion which in 
 one way or another Jesus was always making in 
 face of the hostile Jews, the assertion of perfect 
 oneness with God. 
 
 30. 31. The two verses indicate a division among 
 the hearers. Some would have arrested Jesus, but 
 others believed. The question in v. 31 expects a 
 negative reply. The believers did not fully take 
 Jesus as the Messiah, for He had not on this occasion 
 so proclaimed Himself, but they felt that even the 
 Messiah could do no more than Jesus had done. 
 
St. John 107 
 
 John 7. 32-52. 
 
 THE LAST DAY OF THE FEAST : JESUS 
 AND THE LIVING WATER. 
 
 32 The Pharisees heard that the people murmured 
 such things concerning him ; and the Pharisees and 
 
 23 the chief priests sent officers to take him. Then 
 said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with 
 
 34 you, and then I go unto him that sent me. Ye 
 shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where I 
 
 35 am, thither ye cannot come. Then said the Jews 
 among themselves. Whither will he go, that we shall 
 not find him ? will he go unto the dispersed among 
 
 S6 the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles ? What manner 
 of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and 
 shall not find me : and where I am, thither ye cannot 
 
 37 come ? In the last day, that great day of the feast, 
 Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, 
 
 38 let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth 
 on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly 
 
 39 shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake 
 he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him 
 should receive : for the Holy Ghost was not yet 
 given : because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) 
 
 40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this 
 
 41 saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others 
 said. This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ 
 
 42 come out of Galilee ? Hath not the scripture said. 
 That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of 
 
 43 the town of Bethlehem, where David was ? So 
 there was a division among the people because of 
 
 44 him. And some of them would have taken him ; 
 
 45 but no man laid hands on him. Then came the 
 officers to the chief priests and Pharisees ; and they 
 
 46 said unto them, Why have ye not brought him ? The 
 
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 officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 
 
 47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also 
 
 48 deceived ? Have any of the rulers or of the Phari- 
 
 49 sees beUeved on him ? But this people who knoweth 
 
 50 not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto 
 them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of 
 
 51 them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear 
 
 52 him, and know what he doeth ? They answered 
 and said unto him. Art thou also of Galilee ? Search, 
 and look : for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. 
 
 As stated before, this section contains the great 
 declaration to which all the preceding portions of 
 the chapter have been leading up. Jesus declares 
 Himself to possess the " living water " — thus 
 repeating that manifestation of His inner con- 
 sciousness which He has given in speaking of 
 Himself as having life in Himself and as the 
 living Bread. In Himself — not alone in His 
 teaching — lies the secret of life ; and the constant 
 implication is that man's personality must actually 
 attach itself to Christ's if it would be perfected. 
 Thus, by presenting these successive ideas, does 
 the Evangelist cause his pages to show the view of 
 Himself and of His mission which Jesus entertained. 
 
 The record of the happenings on the last day 
 must be taken as beginning with v. 32, although 
 the day is not mentioned until v. ?>!. For the 
 officers are sent in v. 37, and their return is 
 mentioned in v. 45 — clearly on the last day. 
 This last day of the feast was really an addition 
 to the feast itself, and was kept as a sabbath. 
 Moreover, on this last day the words of Jesus, in 
 offering the living water, would have a very special 
 significance. On the previous days, water was 
 drawn in a golden vessel from the pool of Siloam, 
 
St. John 109 
 
 and poured forth in the Temple, in remembrance 
 of the coming of water from the rock in the desert. 
 But on the last day this rite was omitted, as that 
 day commemorated the entrance into the promised 
 land with its many streams. And still further, it 
 was an article of popular belief that at the coming 
 of the Messiah a miraculous fountain would spring 
 up within the Temple courts. These things being 
 in the minds of the people, the words of Jesus 
 would point towards a Messianic claim, even 
 though the claim is not definitely made. 
 
 32. This is the Pharisees' first definitely hostile 
 act, as distinguished from hostile words. The 
 " chief priests " include those who have held the 
 chief-priestly office, and those of their relatives 
 who belonged to the Sanhedrin. 
 
 33. Yet a little while. It was six months to 
 His death. The prescience of Jesus enables Him 
 to foresee the end of the movement now begun. 
 
 34. Probably a prophetic reference to the 
 repentance which would come upon them in the 
 later times of distress, when their mistaken ideas 
 of national destiny should have led them to 
 disaster. 
 
 35. the dispersed among the Gentiles. 
 
 This was the customary way of describing the Jews 
 scattered among the non-Jewish nations. The 
 remark is intended to be ironical. The idea of 
 preaching to the Gentiles appears to the speakers 
 to be absurd, although their words really form an 
 unconscious prophecy of what was to take place in 
 the spread of Christianity over the world. Evi- 
 dently they had failed to understand the words 
 of Jesus in v. 34, and were thinking of a dis- 
 appearance of Jesus, while still alive, from the city. 
 
no Westminster New Testament 
 
 37, 38. In the last day, etc. See above. 
 
 If any man thirst, etc. This is the salient 
 and central conception. Once again, Jesus pro- 
 claims Himself as the actual Source of life to those 
 who identify themselves with Him. 
 
 39. Writing from his later standpoint, the 
 Evangelist sees how^ the death of Jesus, so far from 
 being a hindrance to His life-giving ministry, had 
 really been a help. The verse carries us back in 
 a manner to 6. 63, in which Jesus Himself speaks 
 of the spiritual ministry that was to follow upon 
 His death. The Spirit, which is the continued 
 presence of Jesus in the world, began its work 
 when the local restrictions inseparable from a 
 physical existence upon earth were removed. 
 
 40-44. Diiferent impressions produced by the 
 words of Jesus. Some went as far as to hold Him 
 as "that Prophet," and some went further still. 
 But others, thinking Jesus to be a Galilaean, and 
 not being aware that He was really born in 
 Bethlehem (a fact which the Evangelist does not 
 think it necessary to assert, since all his readers 
 would know it), objected. Yet there were enough 
 favourable to Jesus to prevent any actual molesta- 
 tion. 
 
 45, 46. The impression made upon the officers 
 shows how great must have been the majesty of 
 Jesus' presence and words. 
 
 47-49. The Pharisees reply to the officers that 
 they should not think for themselves, but follow 
 the example of the chiefs (v. 48). The contempt 
 for the people implied in v. 49 is characteristic 
 of the Pharisees, who habitually spoke of the multi- 
 tudes as " vermin." 
 
 who knoweth not the law. Meaning that 
 
St. John III 
 
 they did not know the Rabbinical interpretations 
 and expansions of the law, as taught in the 
 schools. 
 
 50-52. Nicodemus endeavours to put in a word 
 asking for at least fair play and a hearing. There 
 is no direct reply from the Pharisees. Instead of 
 replying, they taunt Nicodemus with being himself 
 of Galilaean leanings, and make the manifestly 
 false statement that "out of Galilee ariseth no 
 prophet." Jonah and Elijah at least were of 
 Galilee. It has been suggested, however, that 
 the reference is still to "that Prophet," and that 
 it was not out of Galilee he, in particular, was 
 looked for. 
 
 John 7. 53-8. II. 
 THE WOMAN TAKEN IN SIN. 
 
 53 And every man went unto his own house. Jesus 
 
 2 went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the 
 morning he came again into the temple, and all the 
 people came unto him ; and he sat down, and 
 
 3 taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought 
 unto him a woman taken in adultery ; and when they 
 
 4 had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, 
 this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 
 
 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such 
 
 6 should be stoned : but what sayest thou ? This 
 they said, tempting him, that they might have to 
 accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with 
 his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard 
 
 7 them not. So when they continued asking him, 
 he Ufted up himself, and said unto them. He that 
 is mthout sin among you, let him first cast a stone 
 
112 Westminster New Testament 
 
 8 at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote 
 
 9 on the ground. And they which heard it, being 
 convicted by their own conscience, went out one by 
 one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last : and 
 Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the 
 
 ID midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw 
 none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, 
 where are those thine accusers ? hath no man con- 
 
 II demned thee ? She said. No man. Lord. And Jesus 
 said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee : go, and 
 sin no more. 
 
 The last verse of the seventh chapter clearly 
 belongs to this section. The point is that while 
 every man went to his own house, Jesus, on the 
 contrary, having not where to lay His head, went 
 to the Mount of Olives. It is practically certain, 
 however, that the whole section is an interpolation. 
 It does not occur in the oldest manuscripts : in 
 some points the style is more like that of the 
 synoptic Gospels than that of John : the Mount 
 of Olives is not mentioned elsewhere in this 
 Gospel ; and the title " scribes and Pharisees " 
 (v. 3) is not employed by John, though it is by 
 the Synoptists, to describe the enemies of Jesus. 
 Moreover, the narrative contained in the section 
 interrupts the main run of the history and does not 
 further the Evangelist's main purpose ; and 8. 12 
 follows naturally upon 7. 52. Some versions 
 place the incident after Luke 2L 37. On the 
 whole, the evidence against the section is over- 
 whelming ; though it must be said, finally, that to 
 pronounce against its insertion does not mean that 
 the incident did not take place. 
 
 4-6. The questioners Mere trying to put Jesus 
 on the horns of a dilemma. If He assented to the 
 
St. John 113 
 
 infliction of the sentence. He might seem to 
 infringe the prerogative of the civil authorities, 
 while if He did not, He would be putting Him- 
 self into conflict with the law of Moses. See Deut. 
 22. 22-24. 
 
 7. the first stone. See Deut. 17. 7 as to the 
 duty of the witness to cast the first stone. 
 
 8, 9. Evidently this was one of the many occa- 
 sions on which the moral grandeur of Jesus silenced 
 and awed His foes. 
 
 in the midst. Probably the crowd which had 
 come in with the woman and her accusers remained 
 to see the end. 
 
 10, 11. Jesus does not pronounce forgiveness, 
 as apparently the woman made no confession or 
 appeal. She is, so to say, dismissed with a warning 
 and with another chance. 
 
 John 8. 12-20. 
 JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. 
 
 12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am 
 the light of the world : he that foUoweth me shall 
 not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of Ufe. 
 
 13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him. Thou bearest 
 
 14 record of thyself ; thy record is not true. Jesus 
 answered and said unto them, Though I bear record 
 of myself, yet my record is true : for I know whence 
 I came, and whither I go ; but ye cannot tell whence I 
 
 15 come, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh ; 
 
 16 I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment 
 is true : for I am not alone, but I and the Father 
 
 17 that sent me. It is also written in your law, that 
 
 8 
 
114 Westminster New Testament 
 
 1 8 the testimony of two men is true, I am one that 
 bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me 
 
 19 beareth witness of me. Then said they unto him, 
 Where is thy Father ? Jesus answered, Ye neither 
 know me, nor my Father : if ye had known me, ye 
 
 20 should have known my Father also. These words 
 spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the 
 temple : and no man laid hands on him ; for his 
 hour was not yet come. 
 
 Ill the evolution of John's main purpose chap- 
 ters 8 and 9 together form one hnk. That 
 main purpose, it will be remembered, is to give 
 such a revelation of the words and acts of Jesus 
 that He shall be recognised as the Son of God ; 
 and in this particular section (5. 1-10, 18) the 
 Evangelist is allowing Christ's self-consciousness to 
 speak for itself The present declaration that He 
 is the Light of the world, which Jesus here makes, 
 connects with the previously recorded declarations 
 as to " life in Himself," and the rest, which have 
 already been reviewed. Just as the kindling of 
 the light dispels the darkness, so the bringing of 
 Jesus into human nature, or the identification 
 of human nature with Jesus, brings in life instead 
 of the spiritual lifelessness which has prevailed 
 before. In 8. 12 we find one declaration; and the 
 whole of chapter 9 (besides the specific announce- 
 ment in 9. .^) circles round the same idea. Jesus has 
 simply to sliine Himself into man — and man lives. 
 
 The present metaphor differs from the others in 
 that it at once suggests the question of sin, since 
 the mention of light inevitably suggests darkness. 
 As the Light of the world, therefore, Jesus is 
 sufficient for the moral ills whereby human nature 
 is beset. 
 
St. John 115 
 
 12. Then spake Jesus, etc. "Then" goes 
 
 back to chapter 7. This also belongs to the last 
 clay of the feast. 
 
 I am the light of the world. As with the 
 previous declaration concerning the living water, 
 so with this, there is a reference to the ritual of 
 the feast. At the Feast of Tabernacles, lamps 
 were kindled in the Temple (in the court of the 
 women, in which was the treasury — v. 20) to 
 commemorate the Pillar of Fire which had guided 
 the people's desert steps. 
 
 13. The Pharisees make no direct reply to the 
 claim. This objection is a purely technical one — 
 not above the status of a quibble. 
 
 14. Jesus can bear witness of Himself, inasmuch 
 as His consciousness of His divine origin and His 
 divine fellowship is assured. 
 
 15. I judge no man. "That is not My 
 primary or My present work." Compare, however, 
 5. 27. A judgment, indeed, is inevitable, since 
 men judge themselves when they come into presence 
 of Jesus (3. 18). 
 
 16. And yet if I judge. The " I " is emphatic. 
 /, differing from you, judge righteous judgment 
 if I judge. And for the reason of this, Jesus 
 again makes the great claim of absolute oneness 
 with God. 
 
 11, 18. Note the insistence with which Jesus here 
 presses the matter — as frequently in this Gospel. 
 He is, in a manner, challenging His foes. For the 
 Old Testament reference, see Deut. I9. 15. 
 
 19. The question of the Pharisees is of coui'se 
 put in scorn. In answer, Jesus declares that if 
 they had known Him — really known Him — they 
 would have seen God in Him. 
 
ii6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 20. the treasury. See on v. 12. The treasury 
 contained thirteen receptacles (called " trumpets/' 
 from their shape) for gifts. 
 
 John 8. 21-59. 
 
 THE DISCOURSE ON TRUTH AND 
 FREEDOM. 
 
 21 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and 
 ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins : whither 
 
 22 I go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, Will 
 he kill himself ? because he saith, Wliither I go, 
 
 23 ye cannot come. And he said unto them, Ye are 
 from beneath ; I am from above : ye are of this 
 
 24 world ; I am not of this world. I said therefore 
 unto you, that ye shall die in your sins : for if 
 ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your 
 
 25 sins. Then said they unto him. Who art thou ? 
 And Jesus saith unto them. Even the same that I 
 
 26 said unto you from the beginning. I have many 
 things to say and to judge of you : but he that sent 
 me is true ; and I speak to the world those things 
 
 27 which I have heard of him. They understood not 
 
 28 that he spake to them of the Father. Then said 
 Jesus unto them. When ye have Hfted up the Son of 
 man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I 
 do nothing of myself ; but as my Father hath taught 
 
 29 me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is 
 with me : the Father hath not left me alone ; for I do 
 
 30 always those things that please him. As he spake 
 
 31 these words, many believed on him. Then said 
 Jesus to those Jews which beheved on him. If ye 
 continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed ; 
 
 32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
 
St. John 117 
 
 ^^ make you free. They answered him, We be Abra- 
 ham's seed, and were never m bondage to any man : 
 
 34 how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free ? Jesus 
 answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
 
 35 Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And 
 the servant abideth not in the house for ever : but 
 
 36 the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall 
 ^7 make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that 
 
 ye are Abraham's seed ; but ye seek to kill me, 
 
 38 because my word hath no place in you. I speak 
 that which I have seen with my Father : and ye do 
 
 39 that which ye have seen with your father. They 
 answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. 
 Jesus saith unto them. If ye were Abraham's children, 
 
 40 ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye 
 seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, 
 which I have heard of God : this did not Abraham. 
 
 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to 
 him. We be not born of fornication ; we have one 
 
 42 Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God 
 were your Father, ye would love me : for I proceeded 
 forth and came from God ; neither came I of myself, 
 
 43 but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my 
 
 44 speech ? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye 
 are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your 
 father ye will do. He was a murderer from the 
 beginning, and abode not in the truth, because 
 there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a he, 
 he speaketh of his own : for he is a Uar, and the father 
 
 45 of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe 
 
 46 me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin ? 
 And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me ? 
 
 47 He that is of God heareth God's words : ye therefore 
 
 48 hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then 
 answered the Jews, and said unto him. Say we not 
 well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil ? 
 
 49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil ; but I honour my 
 
ii8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 50 Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not 
 mine own glory : there is one that seeketh and 
 
 51 judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you. If a man 
 
 52 keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said 
 the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a 
 devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets ; and thou 
 sayest. If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste 
 
 53 of death. Art thou greater than our father Abra- 
 ham, which is dead ? and the prophets are dead : 
 
 54 whom makest thou thyself ? Jesus answered. If I 
 honour myself, my honour is nothing : it is my Father 
 that honoureth me ; of whom ye say, that he is 
 
 5 5 your God : yet ye have not known him ; but I know 
 him : and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be 
 a liar like unto you : but I know him, and keep his 
 
 56 saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my 
 
 57 day : and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the 
 Jews unto him. Thou art not yet fifty years old, 
 
 58 and hast thou seen Abraham ? Jesus said unto 
 them, Verily, verily, I say unto you. Before Abraham 
 
 59 was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at 
 him : but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the 
 temple, going through the midst of them, and so 
 passed by. 
 
 The discourse contained in this section circles 
 round the central idea of truth (see vv. 32, 40, 45, 
 46, etc.) as brought to men in Jesus. With this is 
 conjoined the idea of freedom (v. 32 etc.) as 
 resulting from the possession of the truth. Light 
 is of course the symbol of truth, as darkness is of 
 error ; and it is therefore natural that, having 
 announced Himself as the Light of the world, 
 Jesus should go on to speak of truth as being 
 given in Him and in His word. There is no break 
 in the thought, although for the time being the 
 
St. John 119 
 
 conception of light drops out. It must be remem- 
 bered, also, that by truth Jesus means more than 
 intellectual correctness, and by freedom more than 
 deliverance from error. These things are included 
 in the conception, but do not exhaust it. By 
 possessing truth Jesus means having life lifted up 
 into its true line of development, and by freedom 
 He means freedom from moral failure and sin. 
 This is evident from v. 34, in which Jesus defines 
 the opposite of freedom. The whole discourse is 
 consequently an elaboration of the original con- 
 ception of Jesus as Light. 
 
 21. again. Jesus repeats what He had said in 
 7.34. 
 
 ye shall die in your sins. The repetition, 
 however, is not exact. This time Jesus explains 
 more precisely the terrible consequences of their 
 rejection of Him, and so shows why they will not 
 be able to find Him. 
 
 22. The Jews, refusing to dwell upon the warn- 
 ing just given to them, seek for another explanation 
 of the mysterious words. They now fall back upon 
 the idea of suicide — a more extravagant idea than 
 that which they had propounded in 7. 35. 
 
 23. 24. A more particular explanation of the 
 difference, in a spiritual sense, between the Jews 
 and Jesus. Only by faith in Him could the conse- 
 quence of this difference (the dying in their sins) 
 be averted. 
 
 I am he. An implied claim to be the Messiah, 
 without being an explicit declaration, for which the 
 time was not come. 
 
 25-27. The question of the Jews (v. 25) was 
 probably designed to entrap Jesus into a definite 
 avowal which would have given an opportunity of 
 
I20 Westminster New Testament 
 
 charging Him with blasphemy. Jesus, however, 
 does not give an exphcit reply ; and His answer is 
 in the nature of a passing word, putting the 
 question by. Jesus then goes on (v. 26) to take 
 up again what He has said in v. 24. The judg- 
 ment of them which He therein expressed will 
 have to be repeated again and again ; and in 
 uttering it, Jesus represents the judgment of 
 God. 
 
 28. Meaning, not that they would acknowledge 
 themselves to have been wrong, but that there 
 would be sufficient evidence, for any open mind, in 
 the events of Christ's death and resurrection, of 
 His divine mission. 
 
 29. Another instance of the great assertion 
 which constantly recurs. 
 
 30. The belief spoken of was, however, only 
 temporary. The men who now "believed" were 
 those who soon after (v. oQ) tried to stone 
 Jesus. 
 
 31. 32. Jesus at once proceeds to try the faith 
 which these people profess. His next words are 
 in the nature of a test of their allegiance. How 
 will they take them ? 
 
 those Jews which believed on him. The 
 R.V., though keeping '^^ believed on him" in v. 30, 
 has "believed him" in v. 31. The difference is 
 significant. "Believed on" implies surrender as 
 well as intellectual assent (" believed in " is 
 another New Testament phrase). Having stated 
 that some of the hearers "believed on" Jesus, 
 John bethinks himself in v. 31 that they had 
 only "believed" — not "believed on." They had 
 given a sort of assent, but had not really sur- 
 rendered themselves. 
 
St. John 121 
 
 33. The result of the test is at once apparent. 
 The hstener's pride is roused at the idea of being 
 in bondage. The nation was of course at the time 
 in pohtical bondage to Rome, but personally each 
 man was free, and these people did not reach to 
 the spiritual meaning of the words Jesus used. 
 
 34-36. They were slaves to sin, and inasmuch 
 as a slave had no permanent place in the kingdom 
 of God, they must identify themselves with Jesus, 
 the Son, who could impart His own freedom to 
 them. 
 
 37, 38. Jesus at the same time admits their 
 descent from Abraham in the lower sense (in 
 the first clause), and prepares them for the charge 
 of being spiritually descended from the Evil One. 
 Their conduct is not such as descendants of Abraham 
 should show. 
 
 your father. An anticipation of the charge 
 made in v. 44. 
 
 39, 40. Practically a repetition on both sides of 
 the ideas previously expressed, although Jesus now 
 suggests for them another descent than that from 
 Abraham, by His use of the words, ^^If ye were 
 Abraham's children." 
 
 41. your father. Of course raising at once the 
 inquiry as to who this father was. Apparently 
 understanding at last that Jesus speaks of a spirit- 
 ual heredity, the Jews assert their sonship to God. 
 
 42. Compare v. 19. In both cases, Jesus asserts 
 that He and God are so truly one, that whoso 
 knows one knows the other. A nature which has 
 any moral kinship with God will recognise the 
 divineness of Jesus. 
 
 44, 45. Note how tremendous is this denuncia- 
 tion. To this the previous words of Jesus on the 
 
122 Westminster New Testament 
 
 subject of spiritual heredity have been leading up. 
 He is determined to make these men realise what 
 they are, and, moreover, to show them how useless 
 was the transient belief which they had professed 
 to entertain. 
 
 46, 47. Jesus further forces them to admit 
 themselves without excuse. They have found no 
 fault in Him. If so (and apparently silence on 
 their part admits it), they are morally compelled 
 to accept Him as what He declares Himself to 
 be. But V. 47 gives the reason why they do not 
 do so. 
 
 48. a Samaritan. The word so translated 
 may have been, in Aramaic, "Shomron," a name 
 given to the prince of the devils. 
 
 49, 50. Jesus first contradicts the imputation, 
 and then states the actual fact — that He honours 
 His Father in all that He does. The hearers dis- 
 honour Him (by the charge just made), but Jesus 
 does not care for this for His own sake (v. 50), 
 for He seeks no glory. Yet God will vindicate 
 Him. 
 
 51. Here comes in the idea of "^ everlastingness " 
 in the life that Jesus gives. It has hitherto been 
 absent from this discourse, though prominent in 
 the discourse in chapter 6. Here the presentation 
 of the idea is a further challenge. 
 
 52, 5S. Again a proof of the literalness with 
 which the Jews interpreted everything they heard. 
 They could get no higher than the idea of physical 
 death. 
 
 54, 55. In answer to the charge of self-glorifica- 
 tion, which has been implied in the last words 
 of the Jews, Jesus again asserts His claim to 
 oneness with God. Through this utterance, also, 
 
St. John 123 
 
 there runs something like that satire (^^of whom 
 ye say, that he is yom* God, " etc.) which has been 
 previously found in some of the sayings of Jesus. 
 
 56. Abraham had lived in faith and hope regard- 
 ing the Messiah's day. 
 
 57. Still not understanding, the Jews make a 
 point of His comparative youth. Of course Jesus 
 was not anything like fifty years old. Dr. Whyte 
 suggests that Jesus looked much older than He 
 was, through bearing ever in His thought and 
 upon His heart the burden of the world's re- 
 demption. 
 
 58. 59. This daring assertion is of course an 
 unmistakable claim to divineness. The making of 
 the claim put an end to the belief which had 
 never been more than superficial, and changed it 
 to active enmity. 
 
 John 9. 1-12. 
 THE HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND. 
 
 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was 
 
 2 blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, 
 saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, 
 
 3 that he was born blind ? Jesus answered. Neither 
 hath this man sinned, nor his parents : but that the 
 
 4 works of God should be made manifest in him. I 
 must work the works of him that sent me, while it is 
 
 5 day : the night cometh, when no man can work. As 
 long as I am in the world, I am the light of the 
 
 6 world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on 
 the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he 
 
 7 anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and 
 said unto him. Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, 
 (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way 
 
124 Westminster New Testament 
 
 8 therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The neigh- 
 bours therefore, and they which before had seen him 
 that he was bhnd, said, Is not this he that sat and 
 
 9 begged ? Some said. This is he : other said, He is 
 
 10 hke him : but he said, I am he. Therefore said they 
 
 1 1 unto him. How were thine eyes opened ? He 
 answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made 
 clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me. Go 
 to the pool of Siloam, and wash : and I went and 
 
 12 washed, and I received sight. Then said they unto 
 him. Where is he ? He said, I know not. 
 
 As previously stated, the ninth chapter connects 
 with the eighth, inasmuch as in its fifth verse Jesus 
 repeats the great declaration which He had made 
 in 8. 12. Following upon the miracle which this 
 section records, He employs the light which He 
 has brought to the blind man's eyes as symbolic 
 of the spiritual light which He brings to human 
 life. The conception of Jesus as the Light of the 
 world has, however, an additional element in the 
 present suggestion of it, over and above what 
 was suggested in chapter 8. In the case of the 
 blind man, Jesus compels him to take some part, 
 slight but real, in his own cure : he has to go to 
 the pool of Siloam and wash. The suggestion 
 consequently emerges that, while Jesus is the 
 Light of men, there must be a human activity in 
 order to receive its blessing. As in a previous 
 instance we saw that the idea of Jesus as the 
 Bread of Life follows upon the idea of Him as 
 having "life in Himself," an unreal mysticism 
 thus being banished, since bread must be actually 
 reached out after and deliberately received — so is 
 it here. Jesus is the Light, but a necessary w ork 
 of self-adjustment to the Light remains for man. 
 
St. John 125 
 
 1. as Jesus passed by. This was not long 
 after the events recorded in chapter 8, although 
 it is quite uncertain whether it was upon the same 
 occasion. It was at any rate during the same visit 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
 he saw a man. The man apparently made no 
 sign or appeal, although it was evidently his habit 
 to beg. This, however, was the sabbath day. 
 
 2. It was an article of belief among the Jews 
 that physical hardship was retribution for sin. In 
 this case the difficulty of the matter arose from the 
 fact that the man had been born blind ; and to 
 seek for an explanation of such a thing was a 
 frequent task in the Rabbinical schools. The 
 disciples suggest two possibilities — that the man 
 either suffered for his parents' sin, or that he 
 was punished in advance, so to say, for sins he 
 was sure to commit. Probably the disciples were 
 merely repeating what had filtered through to the 
 people as to Rabbinical solutions of problems such 
 as this. 
 
 3. Rejecting both alternatives, Jesus leaps with 
 heart and mind to the conclusion (and expresses it) 
 that His meeting with this man was foreordained 
 in the Father's plan. The opportunity becomes 
 an actual duty, for the works of God were to be 
 made manifest in this man. 
 
 4. I must work, etc. The R.V. has " we must 
 work," Jesus thus associating Himself with His 
 disciples, or His disciples with Him, in His 
 ministry. Note also how the sense of an ap- 
 proaching end to His mission was present to the 
 mind of Jesus — " The night cometh," etc. Even 
 He who needed no other impulse to His appointed 
 service than the impulse of His own obedient 
 
126 Westminster New Testament 
 
 heart, was stirred and spurred by a feeling of the 
 Hmitation of opportunity. 
 
 5. See on 8. 12. 
 
 6, 7. Edersheim says that the use of saliva was 
 a common practice among the Jews in treating 
 optical diseases. 
 
 the pool of Siloam. Still to be identified. 
 It is to the south-east of Jerusalem, where the 
 Tyropoeon Valley joins the Valley of Hinnom. It 
 is now called the '^'^Birket Silwan." 
 
 8-12. These touches in the narrative are emi- 
 nently natural. The fjict that the neighbours 
 knew of the blind man's existence would go far 
 to establish the reality of the miracle ; and the 
 doubt as to the identity, resolved finally by the 
 man himself, does but accentuate the conviction 
 of genuineness with which one reads the story. 
 
 A man that is called Jesus, etc. Or, as in 
 R.V., 'Hhe man that is called Jesus," — implying 
 that the blind man, though without any definite 
 convictions as to Jesus and His mission, had heard 
 Him talked about. 
 
 John 9. 13-41. 
 
 THE PHARISEES AND THE MAN WHO HAD 
 BEEN BLIND. 
 
 13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime 
 
 14 was blind. And it was the sabbath day when 
 
 15 Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Then 
 again the Pharisees also asked him how he had 
 received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay 
 
 16 upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. There- 
 
St. John 127 
 
 fore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of 
 God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. 
 Others said. How can a man that is a sinner do such 
 miracles ? And there was a division among them. 
 
 17 They say unto the bhnd man again. What sayest 
 thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes ? He 
 
 18 said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe 
 concerning him, that he had been blind, and 
 received his sight, until they called the parents 
 
 19 of him that had received his sight. And they 
 asked them, saying. Is this your son, who ye say 
 
 20 was born blind ? how then doth he now see ? His 
 parents answered them and said. We know that this 
 
 21 is our son, and that he was born blind : but by what 
 means he now seeth, we know not ; or who hath 
 opened his eyes, we know not : he is of age ; ask him : 
 
 22 he shall speak for himself. These words spake his 
 parents, because they feared the Jews : for the Jews 
 had agreed already, that if any man did confess that 
 he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 
 
 23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age ; ask him. 
 
 24 Then again called they the man that was bUnd, and 
 said unto him, Give God the praise : we know that 
 
 25 this man is a sinner. He answered and said. Whether 
 he be a sinner or no, I know not : one thing I knov.-, 
 
 26 that, whereas I was blind, now I see. Then said 
 they to him again. What did he to thee ? how opened 
 
 27 he thine eyes ? He answered them, I have told 
 you already, and ye did not hear : wherefore would 
 
 28 ye hear it again ? will ye also be his disciples ? Then 
 they reviled him, and said. Thou art his disciple ; 
 
 29 but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God 
 spake unto Moses : as for this fellow, we know not 
 
 30 from whence he is. The man answered and said 
 unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye 
 know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened 
 
 31 mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not 
 
128 Westminster New Testament 
 
 sinners : but if any man be a worshipper of God, 
 
 32 and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the 
 world began was it not heard that any man opened 
 
 33 the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man 
 
 34 were not of God, he could do nothing. They an- 
 swered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether 
 born in sins, and dost thou teach us ? And they 
 
 35 cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him 
 out ; and when he had found him, he said unto him, 
 
 36 Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? He answered 
 and said, Who is he. Lord, that I might believe on 
 
 ly him ? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both 
 
 38 seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And 
 he said. Lord, I beheve. And he worshipped him. 
 
 39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this 
 world, that they which see not might see ; and that 
 
 40 they which see might be made blind. And some 
 of the Pharisees which were with him heard these 
 
 41 words, and said unto him, Are we blind also ? Jesus 
 said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no 
 sin : but now ye say, We see ; therefore your sin 
 remaineth. 
 
 This makes one of the few sections in John's 
 Gospel in which we are taken away from the 
 actual company of Jesus^ and given a glimpse of 
 what goes on as it were behind the scenes. The 
 narrative serves to show how bitter the hostility 
 of the Pharisees towards Jesus was growing. Their 
 determination to find Him in the wrong — their 
 examination and cross-examination of the healed 
 man in order to discover some way in which the 
 reported miracle might be discredited — all help 
 to deepen the impression. It is evident that the 
 incident of the healing made a crisis in the rela- 
 tions between Jesus and the Jews. 
 
St. John 129 
 
 13, 14. Evidently some of the hostile ones 
 among the crowd bestirred themselves, and forced 
 the man into the presence of the Pharisees. Their 
 object comes out in v. 14, wherein the fact of 
 the miracle having been wrought on the sabbath 
 is indicated as the burden of the charge. The 
 Pharisees to whom the man was brought cannot 
 have been the Sanhedrin itself, as this did not 
 meet on the sabbath ; but it was probably some 
 recognised committee of the Sanhedrin, and in any 
 case it had an official character, as it possessed 
 power to excommunicate (v. 34.) 
 
 15, 16. Then again the Pharisees asked, 
 etc. The first inquiry had been put by the 
 neighbours (v. 10) — hence " again." 
 
 The question of the Pharisees was put with the 
 object of obtaining, from the man's own lips, 
 evidence of sabbath-breaking on the part of Jesus. 
 The man is, however, cautious ; and while he is 
 obliged to say that clay had been put upon his 
 eyes (which was itself a violation of Rabbinical 
 sabbath law) he does not mention the actual 
 making of the clay, which was, from the ecclesias- 
 tical point of view, the worst feature of all. The 
 Pharisees find enough, in what the man says, 
 to condemn Jesus, although a section of them 
 (possibly influenced by Nicodemus) take a less 
 drastic view. 
 
 17. Wishing to make more sure of their ground, 
 they shift the emphasis of inquiry. The question 
 now is, not what did Jesus do, but what does the 
 man think of Him } It looks like a determination 
 to have somebody with whom they can quarrel. 
 Perhaps the man will give them a handle. The 
 man's reply, stating his belief that Jesus was a 
 
I30 Westminster New Testament 
 
 prophet, does not carry things very far. Less 
 than this he could hardly say, assuming the 
 miracle to be real. A "prophet " means one with 
 a special divine commission — not necessarily one 
 who foretells. 
 
 18, 19- Since the statement that Jesus was a 
 prophet could hardly be contested, if the healing 
 had indeed been wrought, the Pharisees next cast 
 doubt upon the miracle. Calling the parents of 
 the man, they interrogate them. They insinuate 
 doubt as to whether the man before them is the 
 well-known son, then a further doubt as to whether 
 he was really born blind. " Of whom ye say," etc. 
 (v. 19). 
 
 20-23. The parents' answer is both direct and 
 cautious. They avow this man to be their son, 
 and declare that he had been born blind (thus 
 knocking away all pretext for scepticism), but 
 upon the miracle itself they offer no opinion. The 
 reason is given in v. 22. 
 
 put out of the synagogue. Meaning, doubt- 
 less, a permanent excommunication, not the 
 temporary exclusion which was sometimes ad- 
 judged. 
 
 24. Give God the praise. Better, "Give 
 glory to God," as in R.V. It was a customary 
 formula addressed to evil-doers of all kinds 
 (compare Josh. 7. 19)^ and meant, "Give honour 
 to God by making confession." In this instance 
 the Pharisees speak to the man, not exactly as an 
 evil-doer, but as one who has been led into a false 
 belief about Jesus. Their tactics are to speak as 
 if they had, during the man's absence, discovered 
 complete proof that Jesus was a "sinner." 
 
 25. The man, still cautious (although he is 
 
St. John 131 
 
 gradually being stirred to the indignation which 
 comes out in v. 21), declines to discuss the ab- 
 stract question. But as to the fact of his healing, 
 he reaffirms it with emphasis ; and clearly there 
 is in his mind the conviction which he later on 
 expresses (in v. 33). 
 
 26. The purpose of the repeated inquiry is to 
 catch the man in some self-contradiction. 
 
 27. Now there comes in the man a change of 
 mood. The question, " Will ye also be his dis- 
 ciples ? " is of course satirical. 
 
 28. 29. The Pharisees now take refuge in mere 
 abuse. They claim to be disciples of Moses 
 (doubtless thus justifying themselves for condemn- 
 ing a breach of sabbatic law), and proudly contrast 
 themselves, as followers of Moses, with this man, 
 who follows a leader of whom '' we know not 
 whence he is." 
 
 30-33. The man flings back taunt for taunt. It 
 is a marvellous thing that these men, who claim to 
 know everything worth knowing, cannot tell 
 whence this Jesus comes ! They ought to know 
 all about one who can do a miracle such as this ! 
 The man, however, passes on from this to a brief 
 but sufficient argument. Jesus must be of God, 
 for the work He has wrought witnesses to His 
 divine mission. 
 
 34. The bigotry of the Pharisees has bigotry's 
 usual end. Defeated in argument, they have 
 recourse to excommunication. 
 
 Thou wast altogether born in sins. This 
 
 is a taunting allusion to the man's infirmity — 
 assuming, as the disciples had assumed at the 
 beginning (though in a different spirit), that the 
 man's blindness was a penalty for sin. 
 
132 Westminster New Testament 
 
 35. Dost thou believe? " Thou " is emphatic. 
 " Art thou like the unbelieving ones, or not ? " 
 
 the Son of God? Some MSS. read "the 
 Son of Man," and Westcott prefers the reading. 
 It does not, however, harmonise so well with the 
 general tenor of the story. Evidently the object 
 of Jesus was to lead the man into a higher, a truly 
 Messianic, faith, and "the Son of God" was a 
 Messianic title. 
 
 36. The man's reply shows that he had faith, 
 and was prepared to surrender his mind to Jesus, 
 but he had not a full recognition of who and what 
 Jesus v/as. 
 
 37. 38. His perfect readiness is shown in his 
 swift acceptance of Jesus' claim. 
 
 39. Probably Jesus uttered these words to Him- 
 self, a sort of soliloquy by way of commentary upon 
 what had just taken place. The words were 
 overheard, however, by some of the Pharisees who 
 had followed, as vv. 40, 41 indicate. The words 
 of this verse show Christ's consciousness of that 
 discriminating judgment He exercised upon all 
 with whom He came into contact. " They which 
 see not" means those who are ignorant, but who 
 are ready to see and to know — like the healed 
 man. And "they which see" means those who 
 unwarrantably claim to see — like the Pharisees. 
 
 40. Are we blind also ? The Pharisees catch 
 up the one word, realising that in some way it is 
 aimed against them. But they do not apprehend 
 
 he real point. 
 
 41. The stress of the reply falls upon the 
 distinction between blindness and wilful blindness. 
 " If ye were blind " — if ye really were unable to 
 recognise Me — "ye should have no sin." "But 
 
St. John 133 
 
 now ye say, We see " — and in a manner that is 
 true, for you could see if you would. But since 
 you are thus wilfidly blind, "your sin remaineth." 
 For the moment, Jesus accepts their account of 
 themselves. They see — very well, but so much 
 the greater is their blame. 
 
 John 10. 1-21. 
 
 JESUS AS THE SHEPHERD AND AS 
 THE DOOR. 
 
 Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that entereth 
 not by the door into the sheepfold but dimbeth up 
 some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 
 
 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd 
 
 3 of the sheep. To him the porter openeth ; and the 
 sheep hear his voice : and he calleth his own sheep by 
 
 4 name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth 
 forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and 
 
 5 the sheep follow him : for they know his voice. And 
 a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from 
 
 6 him : for they know not the voice of strangers. This 
 parable spake Jesus unto them : but they understood 
 not what things they were which he spake unto 
 
 7 them. Then said Jesus unto them again. Verily, 
 
 8 verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All 
 that ever came before me are thieves and robbers : 
 
 9 but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door : 
 by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and 
 
 10 shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief 
 Cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to 
 destroy : I am come that they might have life, and 
 
 11 that they might have it more abundantly. I am 
 the good shepherd : the good shepherd giveth his 
 
134 Westminster New Testament 
 
 12 life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling.and not 
 the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth 
 the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth : 
 and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the 
 
 13 sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, 
 
 14 and careth not for the sheep. I am the good 
 shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of 
 
 15 mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I 
 the Father : and I lay down my life for the sheep. 
 
 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold : 
 them also I must bring, and they shall hear my 
 voice ; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 
 
 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay 
 
 18 down my life, that I might take it again. No man 
 taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I 
 have power to lay it down, and T have power to 
 take it again. This commandment have I received 
 
 19 of my Father. There was a division therefore again 
 
 20 among the Jews for these sayings. And many of 
 them said, He hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye 
 
 21 liim ? Others said, These are not the words of 
 him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes 
 of the blind ? 
 
 In this section Jesus repeats in yet another form 
 the idea which has met us in varying guise since 
 we began the study of chapter 5. From that 
 chapter up to the eighteenth verse of this, the 
 consciousness of Jesus — His self-consciousness as 
 the Source and Giver of hfe to men — has been 
 making itself heard. He has life in Himself, and 
 man must therefore identify himself with Jesus in 
 a most real sense — must really receive Jesus as 
 bread and water are received — must really let 
 Jesus shine in upon him as light shines in upon 
 darkness — that has been the ceaseless burden. 
 
St. John 135 
 
 NoWj as if desirous of presenting the same concep- 
 tion in a fashion more tender and winning, Jesus 
 speaks of Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep. 
 It is still the same conception ; for the sheep are 
 entirely dependent upon the shepherd, stand, in 
 fact, for the type of utter helplessness. But the 
 suggested relation involves the ideas of tenderness 
 and compassion as the preceding statements have 
 scarcely done. 
 
 How the idea of man's identification with Himself 
 was still prominent in Jesus' mind, is shown by the 
 fact that in the course of this discourse Jesus 
 speaks of Himself as the " door." Jesus as the 
 Shepherd is the principal idea ; but, anxious to 
 insist upon the necessity of man's veritable oneness 
 with Him, as well as upon His own tenderness 
 towards man, Jesus passes from the idea of the 
 Shepherd to that of the door of the fold — indi- 
 cating that man must actually enter into Him. 
 Twice, in v. 7 and in v. Q, the mind of Jesus moves 
 to this point. In a manner the change of figure 
 complicates things a little, and yet it is easy to 
 see the connection between the one metaphor and 
 the other — or, at any rate, how and why the 
 passage from the first to the second was made. 
 
 This discourse follows closely upon the incidents 
 recorded in the previous chapter. It was very 
 likely to the man who had been blind that Jesus 
 uttered the discourse, contrasting His "shepherd- 
 ing" with that of the ecclesiastical authorities. 
 Certainly some of those who had seen or known of 
 the miracle heard this discourse, as is shown by 
 the allusion in v. 21. The account, therefore, 
 belongs to that same history of the Feast of 
 Tabernacles which began at 7. 10. 
 
136 Westminster New Testament 
 
 1-3. An Eastern sheepfold has a solid door^ 
 which is closed at night and guarded by a door- 
 keeper, or ^^ porter." A thief would of course 
 climb in ^'^some other way/' not by the door. 
 
 a thief and a robber. The implied suggestion 
 is that the Pharisees had entered the fold (the 
 sphere of religious life and activity) without due 
 authorisation, and with unlawful purposes of self- 
 aggrandisement. Jesus, coming by the door, is 
 the appointed One, the true Shepherd of the 
 sheep. One may also see in the phrase a hint of 
 the naturalness of Christ's coming, such as we 
 previously met with in 1. 3, 10, 11. 
 
 4, 5. his own sheep. Several flocks may be 
 penned in one fold for safety, and in the morning 
 the shepherd calls forth his own, his voice being 
 immediately recognised by the members of his 
 particular flock. Perhaps, however, there was a 
 kind of reverse suggestion in the words ; and Jesus 
 may have been thinking of some who should have 
 known themselves to be His own, but who did not 
 respond to His call. Compare 1. 11. Similarly, 
 while the sheep always refused to be charmed by 
 a strange voice, many of Jesus' " own " had allowed 
 themselves to be led astray. 
 
 6, 7. As the hearers did not understand, Jesus 
 makes a new beginning, and proceeds to explain 
 that He is Himself the Shepherd of whom He 
 has spoken. Mingled with this, however, is now 
 the other metaphor of Himself as the door. On 
 the meaning, see above. It is as though Jesus 
 felt constrained to declare to the people ceaselessly 
 that they must become one with Him if the}'^ would 
 truly live, and turned aside from His first idea of 
 the Shepherd to emphasise the truth. The 
 
St. John 137 
 
 mention of the fold had of course suggested the 
 idea of the door — hence the slight complication of 
 thought. 
 
 8. Here Jesus returns to the original conception 
 of Himself as the Shepherd;, and to His original 
 contrast of Himself with the Pharisees — also, of 
 course, with the false Messiahs of past days. 
 
 9. In this verse Jesus returns to the other 
 metaphor. 
 
 10-13. And here He once more takes up the 
 first idea. He is now going to mention two 
 characteristics which distinguish Him, the true 
 Shepherd, from the pretended shepherds, the 
 thieves and robbers who steal into the fold. The 
 first characteristic is that of His self-sacrifice for 
 the sake of the flock. The Pharisees had no 
 thought save of self, and cared not even if they 
 " killed and destroyed," so long as their own ends 
 were gained. Jesus was to give His life for the 
 sheep. Note how in the phrase, ^' I am come that 
 they might have life" (v. 10), the fundamental 
 conception of this Gospel comes out once more. 
 The keynote, ^Mife," is thus struck again. 
 
 14. And the second characteristic of the true 
 shepherding lies in the mutual fellowship, the 
 mutual knowledge, between Jesus and His own. 
 There was no such relationship between the 
 ecclesiastical authorities and those whom they 
 professed to guide. 
 
 15. This verse is more closely related with v. 14 
 than the A.V. brings out. As the R.V. has it, it 
 follows directly upon the preceding words. " I 
 know mine own, and mine own know me, even as 
 the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father." 
 A parallel is drawn, therefore, between the mutual 
 
138 Westminster New Testament 
 
 relations of Jesus and His disciples and the mutual 
 relations of Jesus and God. See a similar parallel 
 in 6. 57. 
 
 16. This is a great anticipation of the world- 
 wide ministry which Jesus was at last to exercise, 
 and of the vast sweep of His gospel. It was not 
 only to the Jews, but to ^' other sheep/' that He 
 brought His gift of life. 
 
 one fold. Properly "one flock/' as in R.V. — 
 so barring out any idea of an external uniformity. 
 The sheep will not necessarily be penned within 
 the same walls. 
 
 , 1 7. Here we have the consciousness of intimate 
 communion, of mutual affection, between Jesus and 
 His Father, manifested once more. The words 
 are hardly in direct relation with the general 
 utterance Jesus has been pursuing. They are in 
 the nature of a soliloquy, such as we have listened 
 to on other occasions in the Gospel. Jesus delights 
 to remind Himself how entirely God and He are 
 one — how He dwells in the Father's love because 
 He does the Father's will (compare 15. 10). 
 
 18. This, too, is in a manner said to Himself, 
 rather than to anyone standing by. It is the 
 entire voluntariness of His sacrifice — Jesus reminds 
 Himself — which makes His sacrifice so acceptable 
 in the Father's sight. 
 
 19-21. Again, as in 9- 16, the impression upon 
 the listeners varies. Some of them are moved 
 from their hostility into uncertainty. It does not 
 go further than that, and probably even this was 
 but a temporary effect. But others fall back upon 
 a hypothesis of diabolic possession, which had been 
 employed before (7. 20). 
 
St. John 139 
 
 John 10. 22-42. 
 JESUS AT THE FEAST OF DEDICATION. 
 
 22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, 
 
 23 and it was winter. x\nd Jesus walked in the temple 
 
 24 in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round 
 about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou 
 make us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us 
 
 25 plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and 
 ye believed not : the works that I do in my Father's 
 
 26 name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, 
 because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 
 
 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and 
 
 28 they follow me : and I give unto them eternal life ; 
 and they shall never perish, neither shall any man 
 
 29 pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave 
 them me, is greater than all ; and no man is able to 
 
 30 pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my 
 
 31 Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones 
 
 32 again to stone him. Jesus answered them. Many 
 good works have I shewed you from my Father ; 
 
 33 for which of those works do ye stone me ? The 
 Jews answered him, saying. For a good work we 
 stone thee not ; but for blasphemy ; and because 
 that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 
 
 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, 
 
 35 / said, Ye are gods ? If he called them gods, unto 
 whom the word of God came, and the scripture 
 
 36 cannot be broken ; say ye of him, whom the Father 
 hath sanctified, and sent into the world. Thou 
 blasphemest ; because I said, I am the Son of God ? 
 
 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 
 
 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the 
 works : that ye may know, and believe, that the 
 
 39 Father is in me, and I in him. Therefore they 
 
I40 Westminster New Testament 
 
 sought again to take him ; but he escaped out of 
 
 40 their hand, and went away again beyond Jordan into 
 the place where John at first baptized ; and there he 
 
 41 abode. And many resorted unto him, and said, 
 John did no miracle : but all things that John 
 
 42 spake of this man were true. And many believed on 
 him there. 
 
 We have previously noted that at this point 
 John returns to his first method of telling the 
 story of Jesus' life. From the commencement of 
 the fifth chapter doMii to the point we have 
 reached, John has not been so much speaking /or 
 Jesus or about Jesus, as letting Jesus speak for 
 Himself: it has been the voice of Christ's own 
 consciousness that has in these chapters been 
 heard. Now John resumes the position of 
 spectator, and once again tells us what the 
 spectator sees. It is true that in the section 
 immediately under consideration we meet again 
 with some of the ideas of chapters 5-10. 18, for 
 instance, in vv. 27, 28, and perhaps this section 
 might therefore be regarded as transitional from 
 the one "method" to the other. But broadly 
 speaking, John may now be taken as speaking yb;- 
 and about Jesus once more. Of course, the main 
 purpose of the writer is still the same, and every- 
 thing that John tells about Jesus he tells us in 
 order that we may believe Jesus to be the Son of 
 God. 
 
 According to the most probable reckoning of 
 the chronology here, two months elapsed between 
 V. 21 and v. 22. This would necessarily be so, if, 
 as is usually supposed, all the events narrated in 
 chapters 9 and 1 belong to the Feast of Taber- 
 nacles ; for the latter feast was held in October, 
 
St. John 141 
 
 and the Feast of the Dedication in December. As 
 to the interval, the majority of commentators place 
 in it the events recorded in Luke 10-13. 22, but 
 some consider that the time was spent in Jerusalem. 
 Westcott, however, gets rid of all interval between 
 V. 21 and v. 22 by supposing that the history of 
 the Feast of Dedication begins at 9- 1- There is 
 not much to support this. It is true that the 
 reference to the ^^ sheep" in v. 27 appears to link 
 this utterance to that of the earlier part of the 
 chapter, but the similarity of metaphor can be 
 otherwise explained (see on the verse) ; and, more- 
 over, the way in which the discourse in chapter 9 
 can be connected with the symbolism of the Feast 
 of Tabernacles is strong evidence for placing it on 
 that occasion. We conclude, therefore, that 
 between v. 21 and v. 22 an interval of two months 
 must be assumed. 
 
 22. the feast of the dedication. This feast, 
 
 which is mentioned by John only in the New 
 Testament, commemorated the re-consecration of 
 the Temple by Judas Maccabaeus after Antiochus 
 Epiphanes had profaned it in 160 or l64 b.c. It 
 was not only at Jerusalem that it was kept. 
 Houses were brilliantly illuminated, from which 
 circumstance the feast was sometimes called the 
 "feast of lights." 
 
 23. Solomon's porch. Porticoes surrounded 
 the Temple, and Josephus speaks of a porch on 
 the eastern side which Solomon had built. 
 Solomon's porch is again mentioned in Acts 3. 11, 
 in connection with the cure of the lame man by 
 Peter and John. 
 
 24. The object of the question was probably to 
 draw from Jesus that explicit assertion of Messiah- 
 
142 Westminster New Testament 
 
 ship which He had hitherto withheld. Such an 
 assertion would have enabled the Jews to proceed 
 at once against Him with apparently good grounds. 
 It must be remembered^ however, that for Jesus to 
 declare Himself the Christ, as they suggested He 
 should do, would have been misleading, inasmuch 
 as His conception of Messiahship was totally 
 different from theirs, 
 
 25. I told you. This does not refer to the one 
 or two definite declarations we have noticed — such 
 as the declaration to the Samaritan woman (4. 26) 
 and that to the man healed of blindness (9- 37), 
 for these had been made in private. The reference 
 is rather to the fact that a claim to Messiahship 
 had been implied in many of the things Jesus had 
 said about His own relation to God, and kindred 
 things — and also as stated in the later part of the 
 verse to the works which Jesus had wrought. 
 
 26-28. Note how the allegory of the Shepherd 
 and the sheep recurs, the two points — that of the 
 mutual knowledge between sheep and Shepherd, 
 and that of the gift of life — being insisted on once 
 more. Probably, finding Himself amid the same 
 surroundings as two months before, and with a 
 similarly hostile crowd about Him, Jesus felt the 
 subject of the former discourse coming back into 
 His mind. 
 
 29, 30. In speaking thus about the Father and 
 Himself, Jesus really answers the question put to 
 Him in v. 24. 
 
 my Father's hand. Note how the idea of the. 
 Father's hand is substituted for that of the Shep- 
 herd's hand in v. 28 — another claim to absolute 
 oneness with God. 
 
 31. That the Jews understood this is evident 
 
St. John 143 
 
 from the stoning which they now attempted^ and 
 from the statement in v. 33. 
 
 again. The previous attempt is recorded in 
 8. 59. 
 
 32, 33. The inquiry of Jesus is an instance of 
 irony. In their reply^ the Jews really give away 
 their case ; for they do not deny the " good works/' 
 but thrust them aside^ refusing to admit their 
 evidential value in favour of the claim which Jesus 
 makes. 
 
 S4<-36. The Old Testament reference is to Psalm 
 82. 6. In this passage rulers are called ^^gods" 
 and "children of the Most High" as being re- 
 presentatives of God on earth. The argument of 
 Jesus is that if these rulers could be called '' gods/' 
 how much more justly could He Himself^ with 
 His special mission and ministry, claim the title 
 of Son ? 
 
 31, 38. Jesus passes to another argument — that 
 from the works He has wrought. Thus He returns 
 to the point Avhich He has ironically put to His 
 critics in v. 32, the point which then the critics 
 refused to face. If they could not, starting from 
 what He said, believe in His claim, let them start 
 from these "works," and so find credible that 
 claim which at a first glance seemed beyond 
 belief 
 
 39. to take him. Enough impression has been 
 wTought to make the hostile critics give up their 
 intention of stoning Jesus. They will be content 
 now with arresting Him. But even this they are 
 not able to do. As has happened before, Jesus, 
 probably over -awing them by the majesty He 
 showed, escapes from their grasp. 
 
 40. For a while Jesus retires to a place of safety. 
 
144 Westminster New Testament 
 
 It is not yet time for Him to be delivered into 
 His enemies' hands. 
 
 there he abode. For the place, see 1. 28. 
 There were yet four months to the Crucifixion, but 
 not all this time was spent at the "place where 
 John first baptized/' since space must be found for 
 the events related in the following chapter, and 
 for the sojourn in Ephraim alluded to in 11. 54. 
 
 41. Dr. McClymont has a suggestive note on 
 this in his commentary on St. John {Century Bible). 
 If it be true that miracles were attributed as a 
 matter of course to every prophet, as some modern 
 critics assert, why were none attributed to the 
 Baptist ? It is more just to assume, in face of the 
 definite statement that "John did no miracle," 
 that when miracles were attributed, as in the case 
 of Jesus, it was because they were actually 
 performed. 
 
 42. there. And many believed on him 
 there. "There" — in contrast to Jerusalem. 
 
 John II. 1-44. 
 THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 
 
 The narrative of the raising of Lazarus may be 
 divided into two sections, the first section, vv. 1-1 6, 
 recounting the conversation between Jesus and 
 His disciples before the miracle, and the second 
 section, vv. 17-44, embodying the account of the 
 miracle itself. 
 
 The whole of the eleventh chapter should be 
 viewed in connection with the twelfth, since the 
 two together are designed, in John's scheme, to 
 
St. John 145 
 
 show the attitude of Jesus towards death. The 
 EvangeHst is preparing for the story of the Cross, 
 which he will soon have to tell. The question is 
 bound to arise, " This Jesus, who, you say, was in 
 a special sense the Son of God, why did He permit 
 death to master Him ? How do you reconcile the 
 fact of His crucifixion by the hands of men with 
 the alleged fact of His divineness ? " In this 
 chapter John gives the first part of his answer; 
 for, by raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus reveals 
 His power over death. He Himself, therefore, 
 need not have died. His own death must have 
 been a voluntary self-sacrifice. In the twelfth 
 chapter John gives the second part of the answer ; 
 for there he shows Jesus (as we shall see) actually 
 welcoming death as the means by which His work 
 would be perfected. The full reply to the in- 
 dicated objection is, consequently, that Jesus was 
 master of death, not mastered by it, but that He 
 submitted to it for His mission's sake. 
 
 The story of the raising of Lazarus is to be 
 taken, also, as confirmatory of previously recorded 
 sayings of Jesus, in which He spoke of Himself as 
 the possessor and giver of '^eternal life." It links 
 itself on to the main idea of the Fourth Gospel — 
 the idea of Christ as the Source of life. The unity 
 of purpose in this Gospel comes out once more. 
 
 (A) I-I6. Before the Miracle. 
 
 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of 
 Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 
 
 2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with 
 ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose 
 
 3 brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters 
 sent unto him, saying. Lord, behold, he whom thou 
 
 10 
 
146 Westminster New Testament 
 
 4 lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, 
 This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory 
 of God, that the Son of God might be glorified 
 
 5 thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, 
 
 6 and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that 
 he was sick, he abode two days still in the same 
 
 7 place where he was. Then after that saith he to 
 
 8 his disciples. Let us go into Judaea again. His 
 disciples say unto him. Master, the Jews of late 
 sought to stone thee ; and goest thou thither again ? 
 
 9 Jesus answered. Are there not twelve hours in the 
 day ? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth 
 
 10 not, because he seeth the light of this world. But 
 if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because 
 
 1 1 there is no light in him. These things said he : 
 and after that he saith unto them. Our friend 
 Lazarus sleepeth ; but I go, that I may awake him 
 
 12 out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he 
 
 13 sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his 
 death : but they thought that he had spoken of 
 
 14 taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them 
 
 15 plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your 
 sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may 
 
 16 believe ; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said 
 Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow- 
 disciples, I>et us also go, that we may die with him. 
 
 1. Lazarus. Not mentioned by Luke in his 
 reference to the family (Luke 10). Bethany is 
 now named El' Azeriyeh^ which embodies the 
 name of Lazarus in its Arabic form. Bethany 
 itself is somewhat less than two miles from 
 Jerusalem (v. 18), on the slope of the Mount of 
 Olives. The name means either '' house of dates " 
 or ^' house of the poor." 
 
 2. The anointing was yet to take place (12. 3), 
 
St. John 147 
 
 but the tradition of it was well known in the 
 Church when John wrote. 
 
 3. The sisters make no explicit appeal : they 
 merely acquaint Jesus with the fact of their 
 brother's illness^ feeling that this would be 
 enough. 
 
 4. not unto death. Compare 9. .". 
 
 6, 7. therefore. Vv. 6 and 7 must be taken 
 together, and both as following upon v. 4. 
 because the glory of God was to be shown in the 
 raising of Lazarus, ^^ therefore" there was delay, 
 and ^^ after that" — only then — did Jesus prepare 
 to go. 
 
 8-10. The timidity of the disciples was very 
 natural. The saying of Jesus (vv. 9, 10) is a little 
 obscure, and evidently comes out of a profound 
 movement of thought. Broadly speaking, it means 
 this. There is the light of duty, of God's will, 
 shining upon Me ("Are there not twelve hours," 
 etc.), and so long as I walk in that and am 
 obedient, no real harm can come, even though 
 enemies should do their worst. But if I neglected 
 the call, there would be disaster, even though 
 safety of a sort were kept. In other words, it was 
 better, and in a spiritual sense safer, to face the 
 danger involved in obedience than to secure 
 material safety at the cost of faithlessness. 
 
 11. Here Jesus enunciates what has since been 
 the Christian view of death. 
 
 12, 13. The purpose of the disciples' remark was 
 to deter Jesus from going. As on many other 
 occasions, their literal interpretation of Jesus' 
 words led them astray. 
 
 14, 15. There is here a sort of impatience with 
 the slowness of the disciples. And Jesus turns to 
 
148 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the work which has now to be done (" let us go ") 
 feeling that through this their enlightenment 
 will come. 
 
 16. Thomas . . . Didymus. Both names 
 signify the same thing, the first being Hebrew, 
 and the second Greek, for '' twin." Thomas is 
 evidently still possessed by the idea of danger ; 
 but the timidity of v. 8 has now given place to 
 something like the courage of despair. 
 
 (B) 17-44. The Miracle. 
 
 17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had 
 
 1 8 lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany 
 was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs 
 
 19 off : and many of the Jews came to Martha and 
 Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 
 
 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was 
 coming, went and met him : but Mary sat still in 
 
 21 the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if 
 thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 
 
 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt 
 
 23 ask of God, God will give it th'ee. Jesus saith unto 
 
 24 her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith 
 unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the 
 
 25 resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I 
 am the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth 
 in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : 
 
 26 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
 
 27 never die. Believeth thou this ? She saith unto 
 him. Yea, Lord : I believe that thou art the Christ, 
 the Son of God, which should come into the world. 
 
 28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and 
 called Mary her sister secretly, saying. The Master 
 
 29 is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard 
 
 30 that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now 
 Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in 
 
St. John 149 
 
 31 that place where Martha met him. The Jews then 
 which were with her in the house, and comforted 
 her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily 
 and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto 
 
 32 the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was 
 come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down 
 at his feet, saying unto him. Lord, if thou hadst 
 
 33 been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus 
 ^ . therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping 
 
 which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and 
 
 34 was troubled, and said. Where have ye laid him ? 
 
 35 They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus 
 
 36 wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved 
 IJ him ! And some of them said. Could not this man, 
 
 which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused 
 
 38 that even this man should not have died ? Jesus 
 therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the 
 grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 
 
 39 Jesus said. Take ye away the stone, Martha, the 
 sister of him that was dead, saith unto him. Lord, 
 by this time he stinketh : for he hath been dead four 
 
 40 days. Jesus saith unto her. Said I not unto thee, 
 that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see 
 
 41 the glory of God ? Then they took away the stone 
 from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus 
 Ufted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee 
 
 42 that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou 
 hearest me always : but because of the people which 
 stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou 
 
 43 hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he 
 
 44 cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And 
 he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot 
 with graveclothes : and his face was bound about 
 with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them. Loose him, 
 and let him go. 
 
 17. Burial took place on the day of death. 
 
ISO Westminster New Testament 
 
 19. During seven days — which was the period 
 of mourning — visits of condolence were paid. 
 
 20-22. Martha's mood is one of eagerness to see 
 Jesus, together with some sHght feeling of reproach 
 towards Him because He had not come earlier 
 (this seems to be implied in v. 21). She has some 
 vague idea that even now Jesus may do something, 
 although any hope that He may restore Lazarus 
 has not entered into her mind. 
 
 23, 24. Jesus endeavours, without a direct state- 
 ment as to what He is going to do, to rouse that 
 hope within her. Martha, however, interprets the 
 remark in v. 23 in its most general sense. 
 
 I know that he shall rise again. Although 
 any faith in immortality was very vague, yet a 
 belief in a resurrection was prevalent among many 
 Jews. 
 
 25, 26. Once more Jesus enunciates the great 
 doctrine that He has "life in Himself," and that 
 a believer's identification with Him secures the 
 believer against death. 
 
 27. Martha does not understand, but she knows 
 that what Jesus says must be true. For she is 
 sure of Him, sure as to who and what He is. 
 
 28-31. secretly. Martha wished Mary to see 
 Jesus first of all without anyone else being present, 
 and accordingly calls her away without letting the 
 sympathisers present hear Avhat is said. They, 
 however, mistaking the purpose of Mary's move- 
 ment (v. 31), follow her. 
 
 33-37. he groaned in the spirit. The word 
 translated "groaned" is used for various intense 
 emotions, and frequently connotes the idea of 
 indignation. Here (and in v. 38) there may have 
 been indignation against the power of death. 
 
St. John 151 
 
 together with profound pity for the iiiourners. 
 Also there must have been a sense of the greatness 
 of the conflict in which Jesus was about to engage. 
 For it must not be supposed that this or any other 
 miracle of Jesus cost Him nothing in the way of 
 stress and pain. V. 35 must be conjoined with 
 the '^groaned" of v. 33 in order fully to com- 
 prehend Jesus' emotion. It was natural that the 
 sight of this deep feeling on the part of Jesus 
 should stir something like sympathy in some of 
 the onlookers (v. 36). But others, hostile to Him, 
 and perhaps looking out for an opportunity of 
 criticism, object that the power which He was 
 always claiming for Himself ought to have been 
 employed to avert this calamity (v. 37). 
 
 40. This observation has not been recorded in 
 the earlier part of the conversation. But the 
 reference may be to vv. 23-26, in which the 
 promise, though not understood by Martha, had 
 been given. 
 
 41, 42. In this miracle, as in all others, Jesus 
 depends upon His Father for power. And here 
 He is specially desirous of impressing this fact 
 upon those that stood by. Hence He audibly 
 addresses Himself to God in prayer. It is one 
 of the signs of uniqueness in Jesus that He claims 
 nothing for Himself apart from the Father. It is 
 the Father abiding in Him that doeth the works. 
 
 43, 44. The simplicity of the narrative, when 
 one remembers the greatness of the event, is 
 noteworthy. The Evangelist makes no attempt 
 to heighten the natural impression of the story — 
 uses, so to say, no special notes of exclamation. 
 His own feeling, doubtless — and, as he hoped, the 
 feeling of readers who had read thus far — was that 
 
152 Westminster New Testament 
 
 the miracle was an entirely natural thing for such 
 an one as Jesus to do. 
 
 John II. 45-57. 
 THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE MIRACLE. 
 
 45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and 
 had seen the things wliich Jesus did, beUeved on 
 
 46 him. But some of them went their ways to the 
 Pharisees, and told them what tilings Jesus had 
 
 47 done. Then gathered the chief priests and the 
 Pharisees a council, and said. What do we ? for this 
 
 48 man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus 
 alone, all men will beheve on him : and the Romans 
 shall come and take away both our place and nation. 
 
 49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high 
 priest that same year, said unto them. Ye know 
 
 50 nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient 
 for us, that one man should die for the people, and 
 
 51 that the whole nation perish not. And this spake 
 he not of himself : but being high priest that year, 
 he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation ; 
 
 52 and not for that nation only, but that also he 
 should gather together in one the children of God 
 
 53 that were scattered abroad. Then from that day 
 forth they took counsel together for to put him to 
 
 54 death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly 
 among the Jews ; but went thence unto a country 
 near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, 
 
 55 and there continued with his disciples. And the 
 Jews' passover was nigh at hand : and many went 
 out of the country up to Jerusalem before the pass- 
 
 56 over, to purify themselves. Then sought they for 
 Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood 
 
St. John 153 
 
 in the temple, What think ye, that he will not come 
 57 to the feast ? Now both the chief priests and the 
 Pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any 
 man knew where he were, he should shew it, that 
 they might take him. 
 
 These verses show that the raising of Lazarus 
 marked a very definite stage in the development 
 of hostility to Jesus on the part of the Jewish 
 authorities. Clearly it was necessary, if they 
 were to maintain their position, to take energetic 
 measures. Such an event as the raising of the 
 dead would be bound to draw many to Jesus' side 
 — as a matter of fact, the Jews who were with 
 Mary believed (v. 45). It is specially noteworthy 
 that the " chief priests and the Pharisees " 
 are now spoken of as the instigators of hostile 
 measures (vv. 47, 57), and the order of terms is 
 significant. The "chief priests" were the Saddu- 
 caean party ; and the Sadducees were the deniers 
 of the resurrection. The resurrection of Lazarus, 
 or the report of it, would consequently be specially 
 offensive to them. For this reason, also, the Sad- 
 ducees, in the early days of the Christian Church, 
 were distinguished for the violence of their hatred. 
 A gospel based on the resurrection of Jesus Him- 
 self they were compelled to oppose. 
 
 45, 46. Then many of the Jews which, etc. 
 Properly, "many of the Jews — those w^hich," etc., 
 meaning that all the witnesses of the miracle 
 believed. Those that went to the Pharisees, as 
 recorded in v. 46, must have done so with a mis- 
 taken hope of convincing them on Jesus' behalf. 
 
 47, 48. a council. That is, a full meeting of 
 the Sanhedrin. 
 
154 Westminster New Testament 
 
 What do we? May be paraphrased colloquially, 
 "This v.ill not do." It is to be noticed that they 
 do not attempt to deny the miracle — in fact, the 
 concluding phrase in v. 47 looks like an admission 
 of its reality. 
 
 If we let him thus alone, etc. Their fear 
 was that a popular uprising in favour of Jesus 
 might lead to Roman interference, and then they 
 would lose their position (they put "our place" 
 first). The Romans allowed the national religions 
 of conquered nations to remain, subject to certain 
 conditions. But if Jesus succeeded, these Pharisees 
 and Sadducees would no more be representatives 
 of the national religion at all. 
 
 49, 50. The utterance of Caiaphas is merely an 
 expression of policy. " Never mind the right or 
 wrong of the thing. Let this man be sacrificed 
 for the sake of the whole people." 
 
 51, 52. The Evangelist sees a deeper significance 
 in Caiaphas' words. It was really a revelation 
 of profound truth that he was all unknowingly 
 making, and thus, while unfaithful to his high- 
 priestly office, he was nevertheless fulfilling its 
 functions. For the high priest deciphered and 
 proclaimed the oracles of God. In v. 52 John 
 expands the spiritual idea drawn from Caiaphas' 
 words so as to cover the world. 
 
 53. The utterance of Caiaphas banished what- 
 ever hesitation or uncertainty there may have 
 been. He had given an appearance of virtue to 
 any measures that might be taken against Jesus, 
 and that was enough. 
 
 54. Kphraim. Probably the modern El-Taiyibeh, 
 a Judaean town on the borders of Samaria, about 
 fourteen miles from Jerusalem. 
 
St. John 
 
 155 
 
 55-57. These verses prove how much interest 
 had been aroused by the report of the raising of 
 Lazarus. It is hardly actual hostility^ and yet 
 certainly not faith^ that is indicated by the utter- 
 ance of V. 56, but a sort of curiosity that had little 
 moral quality at all. 
 
 to purify themselves (v. 55). Preliminary 
 purifications were necessary before the celebration 
 of the Passover and other feasts. In 2 Chron. 
 30. 17-20 we have an account of some who took 
 part in the feast without purifying themselves, 
 and of Hezekiah's successful intercession on their 
 behalf. 
 
 John 12. i-ii. 
 
 JESUS AGAIN AT BETHANY. 
 
 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to 
 Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, 
 
 2 whom he raised from the dead. There they made 
 him a supper ; and Martha served : but Lazarus 
 was one of them that sat at the table with him. 
 
 3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, 
 very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and 
 wiped his feet with her hair : and the house was 
 
 4 filled with the odour of the ointment. Then saith 
 one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, 
 
 5 which should betray him. Why was not this oint- 
 ment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the 
 
 6 poor ? This he said, not that he cared for the poor ; 
 but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and 
 
 7 bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let 
 her alone : against the day of my burying hath she 
 
 8 kept this. For the poor always ye have with you ; 
 
156 Westminster New Testament 
 
 9 but me ye have not always. Much people of the 
 Jews therefore knew that he was there : and they 
 came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might 
 see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the 
 
 10 dead. But the chief priests consulted that they 
 
 1 1 might put Lazarus also to death ; because that by 
 reason of him many of the Jews went away, and 
 believed on Jesus. 
 
 The twelfth chapter must, as stated above, be 
 taken in connection with the eleventh, inasmuch 
 as in both chapters John is showing the attitude 
 of Jesus towards death. From this point of view, 
 the salient section of the twelfth chapter is con- 
 tained in vv. 1 2-36 ; and with this section we 
 shall immediately deal. This present section is 
 preliminary. It serves to make clear the historical 
 continuity of the events, as it indicates how the 
 interest excited by the raising of Lazarus persisted 
 (v. 9)j thus leading on to the acclamation of the 
 multitudes (the result and manifestation of that 
 interest) at the entry into Jerusalem, to the curio- 
 sity of the Greeks, and to the utterance concerning 
 His own death which all these things moved Jesus 
 to make. 
 
 The synoptic Gospels appear to place this inci- 
 dent only two days previous to the death of Jesus ; 
 but it has been suggested that the writers wished 
 to show its connection with the treachery of Judas, 
 to which it probably gave the final impulse. The 
 Fourth Gospel gives the chronological order of the 
 events. As, according to John, the Crucifixion 
 occurred on Friday, this supper took place on the 
 previous Sabbath evening. 
 
 1, 2. Matthew and Mark tell us that the supper 
 was served in the house of ^- Simon the leper." 
 
St. John J 57 
 
 Perhaps the house was untenanted, and was used 
 for the occasion. Simon, if a leper, could not have 
 been present himself. 
 
 3. Mary. The name is not mentioned in Matthew 
 or Mark. 
 
 Spikenard. An Indian product, imported into 
 Palestine from early times. According to the 
 Synoptics, the ointment was poured on the head 
 of Jesus, but very probably both head and feet 
 were anointed. 
 
 4. Judas was perhaps the spokesman for others 
 besides himself, since the other writers attribute 
 the remark to the '' disciples," or to some of them. 
 But the idea expressed was just what the mind of 
 Judas would entertain. 
 
 6. bare what was put therein. Properly, as 
 
 in R.V., "took away" — that is, misappropriated. 
 John makes the charge of theft categorically. 
 
 7. The exact translation of this verse is diffi- 
 cult. Probably the R.V. gives the most likely — 
 "Suffer her to keep it against the day of my 
 burying." This implies that the objection of Judas 
 and the rejoinder of Jesus were made before the 
 whole of the ointment had been poured forth. 
 " Do not take it from her to give to the poor — let 
 her finish what she has begun." In any case, 
 Jesus takes Mary's act as an anointing of His body 
 for the sacrifice soon to be made. 
 
 9-11. Many who came out of simple curiosity 
 to see Lazarus were driven into faith when they 
 found themselves in presence of Jesus. And this 
 was among the " common people " (R.V.), on whom 
 the enemies of Jesus would most rely. Little 
 wonder that these enemies were still more deeply 
 stirred to hatred ! 
 
158 Westminster New Testament 
 
 John 12. 12-36. 
 
 THE ENTRANCE INTO JERUSALEM AND 
 JESUS' WELCOME OF DEATH. 
 
 12 On the next day much people that were come to the 
 feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to 
 
 13 Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went 
 forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna : Blessed is 
 the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the 
 
 14 Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young 
 
 15 ass, sat thereon ; as it is written. Fear not, daughter 
 of Sioii : behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's 
 
 16 colt. These things understood not his disciples 
 at the first : but when Jesus was glorified, then 
 remembered they that these things were written of 
 him, and that they had done these things unto 
 
 17 him. The people therefore that was with him 
 when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised 
 
 18 him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the 
 people also met him, for that they heard that he 
 
 19 had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore 
 said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail 
 nothing ? Behold, the world is gone after him. 
 
 20 And there were certain Greeks among them that 
 
 21 came up to worship at the feast : the same came 
 therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of 
 Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see 
 
 22 Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew : and 
 2^ again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus 
 
 answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the 
 
 24 Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, 
 I say unto you. Except a corn of wheat fall into 
 the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it 
 
 25 bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life 
 shall lose it ; and he that hateth his Ufe in this world 
 
 26 shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, 
 
St. John 159 
 
 let him follow me ; and where I am, there shall also 
 my servant be : if any man serve me, him will my 
 
 27 Father honour. Now is my soul troubled ; and 
 what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour : 
 
 28 but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, 
 glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from 
 heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will 
 
 29 glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood 
 by, and heard it, said that it thundered : others 
 
 30 said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered and 
 said, This voice came not because of me, but for 
 
 31 your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world : 
 
 32 now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And 
 I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
 
 33 unto me. This he said, signifying what death he 
 
 34 should die. The people answered him. We have 
 heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever : 
 and how sayest thou. The Son of man must be 
 
 35 lifted up ? who is this Son of man ? Then Jesus 
 said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with 
 you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come 
 upon you : for he that walketh in darkness knoweth 
 
 26 not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe 
 in the light, that ye may be the children of light. 
 These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide 
 himself from them. 
 
 It may at first sight seem that this section should 
 be divided at v. 19, and that vv. 12-19 are more 
 closely connected with what has gone before than 
 with vv. 20-36. From the strictly historical point 
 of view^ this is so^ for the acclamation of the multi- 
 tude was another sign of the interest stirred up by 
 the miracle of Bethany. But it must be remem- 
 bered that^ as previously stated, we have in the 
 eleventh and twelfth chapters John's account of 
 
i6o Westminster New Testament 
 
 Jesus' attitude towards death. And this is best 
 brought out by taking 12. 12-36 as one whole. In 
 the eleventh chapter we have seen Jesus triumph- 
 ing over death — His own death, therefore, must 
 have been a voluntary laying down of life. In this 
 section we have Jesus actually welcoming death, 
 since it will be the means of making His work 
 universal (v. 32). From the excitement of the 
 triumphal entry, and from the visit of the Greeks, 
 Jesus turns to the contrasted thought of death — 
 not in sadness, but in joy. For by His dying He 
 will draw, not a few, as He was doing then, but 
 all. That life-giving power of His, whereof He 
 has spoken so often, will be emancipated from all 
 restrictions of place when He has submitted to 
 and conquered the Cross. So long as He was in 
 the flesh, the ministry of Jesus was necessarily local. 
 But after His death, it w'ould be by a linking of 
 themselves with His spirit — everywhere present, 
 then — that men would receive His gift of life. 
 And Jesus therefore rejoices even in the Cross. 
 His welcome of it is a practical result and applica- 
 tion of what He has said in chapter 6. In 6. 53 
 He has said that life comes by '' eating His flesh 
 and drinking His blood." Yet in 6. 63 He declares 
 that it is the spirit that quickeneth. And that 
 spirit-quickening would be world-wide after He had 
 died. 
 
 13. The shout of the multitude implies a recog- 
 nition of Jesus as the Messiah. For the words cited 
 by the people are from a Messianic Psalm (Ps. 1 1 8), 
 the last of the " Hallel " psalms (this and the five 
 preceding) which were sung in procession round 
 the altar at the great feasts. 
 
 14, 15. By thus riding into the city (as if in 
 
St. John i6i 
 
 fulfilment of Zech. 9- 9) Jesus accepts the homage 
 rendered to Him as Messiah. The ass — held in 
 much greater account in the East than with us 
 — is the symbol of the peace to be ushered in by 
 Messiah's reign. It is contrasted with the horse, 
 the symbol of war. 
 
 1 6. The usual dulness on the part of the disciples. 
 This is, of course, one of the Evangelist's frequent 
 explanatory interjections. 
 
 17-19- John returns for a moment to the purely< 
 historical thread of the story, as if wishing to 
 remind his readers of this before going on to speak 
 of the movement of Jesus' mind at the time of 
 these events. The mood of the people (vv. 17, 18) 
 and that of the Pharisees (v. 19) is to be borne 
 in mind. 
 
 20-22. Greeks. That is, Gentiles by birth — 
 not "Grecian Jews," Jews living among the 
 Gentiles. But inasmuch as they were come to 
 worship at the feast, they were clearly proselytes. 
 
 Philip . . . Andrew. These two were of the 
 same town, Bethsaida in Galilee. Philip's name 
 being Greek would lead the inquirers to him. 
 And Philip, perhaps not caring to perform the 
 introduction alone, would naturally seek his fellow- 
 townsman. 
 
 23-25. It is interesting to follow the thought of 
 Jesus. It might be supposed that this advent of 
 the Gentile inquirers marked His hour of glory. 
 And indeed it did this, though not in the way 
 onlookers might imagine. This visit of the Greeks 
 indicated how wide was the interest Jesus had 
 roused. But His glory lay in turning away from 
 this to His death. And so, although " the hour is 
 come," etc. (v. 23), Jesus goes on to speak of the 
 II 
 
i62 Westminster New Testament 
 
 true glory that is coming to Him by dying, and 
 of the necessity of submitting to death that the 
 true gloiy may be won (v. 24), and enunciates the 
 great rule of dying to live (v. 25) which embodies 
 one of the fundamental principles of the Christian 
 Gospel. 
 
 26. Turning for a moment from Himself to His 
 disciples, Jesus declares that they must be prepared 
 for the same " glorification " as He — the glorifica- 
 tion of sacrifice. 
 
 27. Father, save me from this hour. Jesus 
 turns back to Himself again. As they stand, these 
 words appear to embody a supplication of Jesus — 
 as if for an instant He hesitated before His 
 approaching fate. But this is not in harmony with 
 the exalted mood which all these verses reveal. 
 The words are best read interrogatively. "What 
 shall I say ? Shall I say. Father, save me from this 
 hour ? (the hour when He turns from the lower 
 glory to the higher). Nay, I cannot say that, for 
 it was for this purpose that I came to this hour." 
 
 28,29. Father, glorify thy name. "Do Thou 
 be glorified by My surrender of the lower glory." 
 By Jesus' accepting of the true glory, God Himself 
 would be glorified. This is what, answering His 
 own question (" What shall I say ? "), Jesus chooses 
 to say. 
 
 Whatever sound was heard in reply, many of the 
 people took it as something supernatural, and the 
 words of those who said that it thundered seem 
 like an attempt to explain the voice away. 
 
 30-33. The voice, not needed by Jesus Himself, 
 was meant to assure the disciples that the death 
 to which Jesus was going was indeed a "glori- 
 fying," not a defeat. Yet, though He had not 
 
St. John 163 
 
 Himself needed this proof of the acceptance of His 
 self-devotion, Jesus goes on after it to speak in yet 
 more ringing tones, declaring that at this moment 
 — when He offered Himself and when God 
 accepted the offering — the victory over evil was 
 won (v. 31). And it was to be no limited or 
 circumscribed victory, such as the triumph just now 
 attained in the applause of the multitudes and the 
 visit of the Greeks. It would be the drawing of 
 " all men," not of a few. On this, see above, in 
 introduction to this section. 
 
 34. The people, lately acclaiming Jesus, are at 
 once thrown into doubt by His allusion to His 
 coming death. It does not square with their 
 theories. Can they have been mistaken after all ? 
 It shows how lightly based had been their professed 
 faith. 
 
 The Son of man. It was in v. 23 that Jesus 
 had called Himself by this name. And the people 
 had acclaimed Him as the Christ — yet now He says 
 that He is going to be "lifted up." They cannot 
 reconcile the ideas. Is the wSon of man after all not 
 the Christ ? " Who is this Son of man } " 
 
 S5, oQ. The point of Jesus' reply is that they are 
 not to concern themselves with merely speculative 
 difficulties, but to accept the spiritual illumination 
 which He brings. And it is with the solemn 
 warning that they may easily delay too long 
 that the public ministry of Jesus comes here to its 
 close. Like the sun going down. He " departed, 
 and did hide himself from them." So far as His 
 physical presence was concerned, the darkness 
 against which He had warned them was already 
 descending. 
 
i64 Westminster New Testament 
 
 John 12. 37-43. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF JESUS' 
 MINISTRY. 
 
 'i)^ But though he had done so many miracles before 
 
 38 them, yet they beUeved not on him : that the 
 saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, 
 which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report ? 
 and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been ve- 
 
 39 vealed ? Therefore they could not believe, because 
 
 40 that Esaias said again. He hath blinded their eyes, 
 and hardened their heart ; that they should not see 
 with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and 
 
 41 be converted, and I should heal them. These things 
 said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of 
 
 42 him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also 
 many believed on him ; but because of the Pharisees 
 they did not confess him, lest they should be put 
 
 43 out of the synagogue : for they loved the praise of 
 men more than the praise of God. 
 
 This section, like the following one (vv. 44-50), is 
 not a continuation of the history, but a parenthesis 
 inserted by the Evangelist. It records in brief 
 summary the effects which the preaching and work 
 of Jesus had upon the hearts and minds of the 
 Jews. 
 
 37. SO many miracles. John only records 
 seven miracles, but a knowledge of the synoptic 
 accounts is everywhere assumed. 
 
 38. See Isa. 5S. 1. Of course the words, 
 " that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be 
 fulfilled," must not be too hardly pressed. They 
 do not really imply that the Jews were compelled 
 to disbelieve in order to fulfil the prophecy. The 
 
St. John 165 
 
 method of statement is characteristically Jewish. 
 Everything is looked at as part of the Divine 
 eternal scheme. 
 
 39, 40. See Isa. 6. 9, 10. Jesus Himself 
 is reported as having quoted the passage in 
 Matt. 13. 13-15. 
 
 Therefore they could not believe. The 
 
 impossibility was a moral one. They could not 
 believe because the moral conditions necessary to 
 faith did not exist in them. The spiritual nature, 
 the spiritual instincts, in them had been un- 
 cultivated, indeed crushed. Of course there have 
 been many instances of "belief" recorded in 
 the progress of the history, as we have seen ; but 
 much of the belief has been superficial, and very 
 little of it has endured. 
 
 41. when he saw his glory. Properly, 
 
 " because," as in R.V. 
 
 4-2. even of the rulers. There were two 
 of whom better things could be said — Nicodemus 
 and Joseph of Arimathaea. 
 
 That the fear which led them to silence was no 
 vain one, may be gathered by referring to 9. 22. 
 
 43. See 5. 44. 
 
 John 12. 44-50. 
 RECAPITULATION OF JESUS' MESSAGE. 
 
 44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, 
 believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 
 
 45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 
 
 46 I am come a Hght into the world, that whosoever 
 
 47 beheveth on me should not abide in darkness. And 
 
i66 Westminster New Testament 
 
 if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge 
 him not : for I came not to judge the world, but to 
 
 48 save the world. He that rejecteth me, and re- 
 ceiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him : 
 the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge 
 
 49 him in the last day. For I have not spoken of 
 myself ; but the Father which sent me, he gave me 
 a commandment, what I should say, and what I 
 
 50 should speak. And I know that his commandment 
 is life everlasting : whatsoever I speak therefore, even 
 as the Father said unto me, so I speak. 
 
 This section — a further parenthesis inserted by 
 the Evangelist before he resumes the actual 
 narrative — is a brief recapitulation of the main 
 ideas in the teaching of Jesus. It reproduces the 
 principal conceptions which we have already met 
 with in previous chapters. 
 
 44j 45. This repeats the conception of Jesus' 
 entire oneness with the Father. See 5. 19, 20 ; 
 7. 28, 29 ; 8. 19, and many other passages. 
 
 46. See 8. 12 and 9- 5. 
 
 47-49. See 3. 17. 
 
 50. Finally^ we come once more upon the great 
 central conception of" life " — the conception which 
 dominates the entire Gospel. See chapter 5 and 
 following chapters. 
 
 John 13. 1-17. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : JESUS WASHES THE 
 DISCIPLES' FEET. 
 
 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus 
 knew that his hour was come that he should depart 
 out of this world unto the Father, having loved 
 
St. John 167 
 
 his own which were in the world, he loved them 
 
 2 unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil 
 having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, 
 
 3 Simon's son, to betray him ; Jesus knowing that 
 the Father had given all things into his hands, and 
 that he was come from God, and went to God ; 
 
 4 he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments ; 
 
 5 and took a towel, and girded himself. After that 
 he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash 
 the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel 
 
 6 wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to 
 Simon Peter : and Peter saith unto him. Lord, dost 
 
 7 thou wash my feet ? Jesus answered and said 
 unto him, What I do thou knowest not now ; but 
 
 8 thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him. 
 Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered 
 him. If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 
 
 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, 
 
 10 but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, 
 He that is washed needeth not save to wash his 
 feet, but is clean every whit : and ye are clean, but 
 
 1 1 not all. For he knew who should betray him ; 
 
 12 therefore said he. Ye are not all clean. So after 
 he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, 
 and was set down again, he said unto them, Know 
 
 13 ye what I have done to you ? Ye call me Master 
 
 14 and Lord : and ye say well ; for so I am. If I then, 
 your Lord and Master, have washed your feet ; ye 
 
 15 also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have 
 given you an example, that ye should do as I have 
 
 16 done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The 
 servant is not greater than his lord ; neither he that 
 
 17 is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know 
 these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 
 
 In chapters 13-16 the Evangelist gives us the 
 final utterances of Jesus to His disciples^ and in 
 
i68 Westminster New Testament 
 
 chapter 17 to His Father, previous to His passion 
 (see on 14. 31). The chapters are closely related 
 to John's main purpose, in that they reveal how 
 entirely unique is Jesus in His bearing under the 
 shadow of death. Jesus fixes His whole thought, 
 not upon Himself, but upon His disciples ; and 
 His chief concern is that the true spirit shall dwell 
 in them after He is gone, and that they shall not 
 be made too desolate by their loss. In the present 
 section He gives them an example of humility, thus 
 inculcating the spirit of lowliness and brotherly 
 service. Chapters 14-16 contain, as we shall see, 
 the words that come out of Jesus' profound pity 
 for the disciples, and out of His desire to console 
 them. All through, John is endeavouring to show 
 how, in the whole attitude and spirit of Jesus, at 
 the crisis of His fate, there is something not of this 
 earth. Jesus has no trouble for Himself, makes no 
 attempt to prove to His followers how great He is 
 in spite of the death that is coming. It is upon 
 the disciples and their future that His thought 
 ceaselessly centres. 
 1. Now before the feast, etc. We come 
 
 here upon a question which has stirred a great 
 deal of controversy, the question as to the time of 
 the Last Supper and of the Crucifixion. According 
 to John, the Last Supper was partaken of before the 
 Passover, and Jesus was slain at the same time as 
 the paschal lamb. According to the Synoptics, 
 the Supper was eaten at the time of the Passover 
 feast itself. It is assumed, of course, that the 
 meal described by John is the same as that described 
 by the Synoptists — the meal at which the Sacrament 
 was instituted, although of the Eucharist itself 
 John says nothing. A great deal of ingenuity has 
 
St. John 169 
 
 been expended by some in proving that John is 
 in line with the Synoptists (Hofmann, Langen, 
 Tholuck, etc.), and by others in proving that the 
 Synoptists are in Hne with John (Godet, Chwolson, 
 etc.). Perhaps this is enough to indicate that a 
 satisfactory reconciliation is impossible. Neither is 
 it necessary, except on a strict theory of verbal 
 inspiration which very few hold. It may be said, 
 however, that a careful study of the matter leads to 
 the conclusion that John's chronological arrange- 
 ment is more probably the correct one. The supper, 
 therefore, took place on the 13th Nisan, the day 
 before the Passover lamb was slain. Dr. Sanday 
 has a brief section on the matter (in his Criticism 
 of the Fourth Gospel) which in small compass 
 gives the essential reasons for deciding in John's 
 favour. 
 
 to the end. Properly, " to the uttermost." 
 That is, as stated above, it was thought for the 
 disciples which, even when His own death was 
 nigh, absorbed the mind and heart of Jesus. 
 
 2. And supper being ended. Properly, as in 
 R. v., " during supper." The supper was not ended, 
 as vv. 12, 25, and 26 indicate. 
 
 having now, etc. Again the R.V. has correctly, 
 " having already." This makes the point clear. 
 Jesus saw that already the evil purpose was fixed 
 in Judas, and yet His love, unimpaired, prompted 
 Him to persist in the lowly service He was about to 
 render, and in the gracious words He was about 
 to speak. 
 
 3. knowing that the Father had given, etc. 
 Throughout, Jesus has a sense of elevation, of 
 victory. Compare v. 31. 
 
 4. 5. Although the sense of victory, and of 
 
I70 Westminster New Testament 
 
 oneness with God, was so strong in Him, Jesus 
 humbles Himself. 
 
 The washing of the feet usually took place 
 before a meal. Perhaps the strife between the 
 disciples (see Luke 22. 24) occurred in connection 
 with a question as to who should perform this 
 service. 
 
 his garments. The outer robe. 
 
 6. Both '^ thou " and " my " are emphatic. Peter 
 thinks it unfitting that the Master should do this. 
 His mood was in a manner right, yet wrong. He 
 allows his humility to be too self-assertive. 
 
 7. Jesus rebukes Peter, yet with gentleness. It 
 was not for Peter to dictate the actions of 
 Jesus. 
 
 8. 9. In answer to Peter's persistence, Jesus 
 utters a stronger word. There is a double meaning 
 in it. First of all, it signifies that unless Peter 
 enters into what Jesus is doing, the lowly spirit of 
 discipleship is not in him. But there is also a hint 
 of a deeper meaning. Peter must be cleansed 
 of sin — in this instance, of the stubbornness that is 
 in him — if he is to be truly of the fellowship. And 
 Peter, with quick change of feeling, asks for more 
 than the washing of his feet. 
 
 10, 11. Jesus, in His reply, comes back to the 
 literal aspect of the matter. The reference is 
 to the fact that, after the bath, the feet may 
 contract some impurity on the way back, and need 
 cleansing again. What is otherwise implied in 
 Jesus' words is that the cleansing of the feet of 
 the disciples was a sufficiently clear symbol of the 
 spirit He was seeking to inculcate. No more was 
 called for. 
 
 ye are clean, but not all. Not one of the 
 
St. John 171 
 
 discipleSj of course^ was wholly pure. But the 
 phrase is relative. There was only one traitor. 
 
 12-14. Although the sudden reference to the 
 one who is not clean leads Jesus presently to speak 
 of the coming betrayal (vv. 18-30)^ yet at the 
 moment He is chiefly concerned to drive home the 
 lesson of humility. He puts the other topic by, to 
 return to it again. 
 
 Know ye ? Really, '' Do you understand ? " 
 The argument of vv. 13, 14 is entirely simple. 
 If Jesus, the Master, can do this, surely the 
 disciples can do it too. 
 
 15. The example was not intended to be 
 necessarily followed in literalness. It is a matter 
 of spirit and mood. 
 
 16. The verse embodies a truth which the 
 Church has too often forgotten. 
 
 John 13. 18-38. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : THE ANNOUNCEMENT 
 OF THE BETRAYAL. 
 
 1 8 I speak not of you all : I know whom I have chosen : 
 but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth 
 bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 
 
 19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come 
 
 20 to pass, ye may believe that I am he. Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you. He that receiveth whomsoever 
 I send receiveth me ; and he that receiveth me 
 
 21 receiveth him that sent me. When Jesus had 
 thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, 
 and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of 
 
 22 you shall betray mc. Then the disciples looked one 
 
172 Westminster New Testament 
 
 2$ on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now 
 there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, 
 
 24 whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned 
 to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom 
 
 25 he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto 
 
 26 him, Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered, He it is, to 
 whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. 
 And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to 
 
 27 Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the 
 sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto 
 
 28 him. That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man 
 at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto 
 
 29 him. For some of them thought, because Judas 
 had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him. Buy 
 those things that wB have need of against the feast ; 
 
 30 or, that he should give something to the poor. He 
 then having received the sop went immediately 
 
 31 out : and it was night. Therefore, when he was 
 gone out, Jesus said. Now is the Son of man glorified, 
 
 32 and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in 
 him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and 
 
 S3 shall straightway glorify him. Little children, yet 
 a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me : 
 and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot 
 
 34 come ; so now I say to you. A new commandment 
 I give unto you. That ye love one another ; as I have 
 
 35 loved you, that ye also love one another. By this 
 shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have 
 
 36 love one to another. Simon Peter said unto him. 
 Lord, whither goest thou ? Jesus answered him, 
 Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now ; but 
 
 S7 thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto 
 
 him. Lord, why cannot I follow thee now ? I will 
 38 lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered 
 
 him. Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake ? 
 
 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not 
 
 crow, till thou bast denied me thrice. 
 
St. John 173 
 
 In this section, John as it were reheves the 
 picture. He has been showing Jesus with His 
 thought turned away altogether from Himself, and 
 he will have to show Jesus continuing to concen- 
 trate mind and love upon the disciples, almost 
 in something like forgetfulness of His own fate. 
 Now, lest this should put Jesus too far off from 
 humanity, the Evangelist reveals the trouble, the 
 inward suff'ering, which Jesus endured as He 
 remembered the traitor in the midst. 
 
 The subsequent conversation (to v. 38) follows 
 naturally out of the circumstances, and may best 
 be taken as part of the section. 
 
 18. I speak not of you all. That is, con- 
 necting with V. 17 — "I know of one who will not 
 do these things." 
 
 He that eateth bread with me. In the 
 
 East this is held as a pledge of friendship and 
 faithfulness. The reference is to Psalm 41. 9- 
 
 19. Now I tell you. Better, ^Mienceforth," 
 as in R.V. The meaning is that "henceforth" 
 there is no more cause for reserve. Judas will 
 not repent. And the prophecy, when fulfilled, 
 would deepen the disciples' conviction of Jesus' 
 divineness. 
 
 20. The connection of this verse with the rest 
 is a little difficult to determine. In part, it clearly 
 goes back to v. I6 (the idea of "sending" is 
 common to both), and indicates that in the realisa- 
 tion of their oneness with Jesus — He being in 
 His turn one with God — the disciples are to find 
 their true greatness. The verse thus anticipates 
 16. 21-23. Its immediate connection with the 
 subject of the betrayal may perhaps lie in the 
 idea that this great mission of the disciples is 
 
174 Westminster New Testament 
 
 unaffected by the defection of one of the band. 
 The relation between Jesus and His faithful 
 followers stands sure. 
 
 21. The thought of the coming betrayal forces 
 itself again to the uppermost place in Jesus* mind, 
 and draws Him away from the topic to which in 
 V. 20 He had turned. 
 
 troubled in spirit. A touch revealing the 
 humanity of Jesus, His horror at the crime that 
 was to be perpetrated by one of those closely 
 associated with Him. 
 
 22. Matthew adds that the disciples doubted 
 themselves, each one wondering whether he was 
 to be the criminal (Matt. 26. 22). 
 
 23. 24. The company would be lying on their 
 left sides, stretched slanting-wise from the table, 
 so that the head of each would be close to the 
 bosom of the one next him. Most of the pictures 
 of the Last Supper give an entirely wrong im- 
 pression of the scene. 
 
 one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 
 See Introduction, pp. 3-8. 
 
 25. He then lying, etc. '^^ Leaning back" — 
 and so able to look into the face of Jesus. 
 
 26. to whom I shall give a sop. It is an 
 Eastern custom for the host to take a choice 
 morsel and present it to the favoured guest. The 
 act may have been a final appeal to Judas. 
 
 Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Both 
 father and son had of course the same surname. 
 It should therefore be, as in R.V., "Judas, the son 
 of Simon Iscariot." 
 
 The talk between John and Jesus cannot have 
 been overheard by the others present, as is evident 
 from V. 28. 
 
St. John 175 
 
 27. Satan entered into him. Judas finally 
 
 hardened himself to the traitorous deed. This is 
 the only place in this Gospel in which the term 
 " Satan " is used. 
 
 28, 29. Had the disciples known that Judas was 
 the traitor, there might have been disturbance, if 
 not actual violence. Hence the answer to John 
 had, as stated, been given in undertones. And 
 not even John understood that the moment 
 had come. 
 
 30. It was most probably after the departure of 
 Judas that the actual memorial rite was instituted. 
 The Synoptics favour this view. 
 
 31, 32. The moment of trouble is past for Jesus, 
 and once more He strikes the note of victory. 
 Compare 12. 23, where the prospect of death had 
 called forth similar words. Doubtless Jesus felt 
 a sense of relief now that the traitor was gone. 
 
 The R.V. omits the first phrase in v. 32, but 
 the meaning of the whole utterance remains un- 
 changed. The Father is glorified because the Son 
 accepts His mission once more, and the Son Him- 
 self is glorified in His obedience. It is as though 
 Jesus, now that Judas had gone to commit his 
 crime, saw everything in train for the sacrifice 
 that was to consummate His work. 
 
 33. From the height of exaltation Jesus comes 
 down to take a loving farewell. " Little children " 
 is used only here, for in 21. 5 there is a different 
 word. What Jesus had said to the Jews He now 
 says to His disciples, but in how different a way ! 
 Here it is only a preface to His subsequent 
 declarations that He is not really leaving them 
 after all. In this verse begins that note of tender 
 pity which rings through chapters 14-16. 
 
176 Westminster New Testament 
 
 34, 35. In these words Jesus returns to the 
 idea of love as one of the distinguishing marks of 
 His fellowsliip. It has been the thought of Judas' 
 treachery that has drawn Him away from that 
 topic (even when He had been speaking about it 
 previously the thought of the traitor had intruded, 
 V. 10), and now that He is free from this, He 
 returns to the subject of love once more. 
 
 A new commandment. There was already a 
 commandment to love one's neighbour as oneself. 
 But Jesus gave to the obligation of love a much 
 wider scope, and freed it from all restrictions. 
 
 36. Peter cannot let the statement in v. 33 
 pass. The reply of Jesus is indirect. He does 
 not say whither He is going, but tells Peter that 
 by and by he will follow. The reply covers much 
 more than the mere truth that Peter will follow 
 Jesus into the other world, and refers to the work 
 and sufferings which Peter, like the Master, would 
 undertake and endure. 
 
 37. Peter is still too impetuous to understand. 
 He is ready for anything in his Master's cause. 
 If it be some literal journey on which Jesus is 
 going, why may not he go at His side .'^ 
 
 38. The note of sorrow comes for an instant 
 back into Jesus' voice. He knows Peter too 
 well. 
 
 The cock shall not crow, etc. The cock- 
 crowing was the third watch of the night. 
 
 According to Matthew (26. 35), Peter still 
 protested, even after this solemn warning, that 
 such a denial as Jesus foretold was quite an im- 
 possible thing. His self-confidence, and that of 
 the other disciples, who join their assurances to 
 Peter's, was unshaken. 
 
St. John 177 
 
 John 14. 1-14. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : JESUS AND THE 
 FATHER. 
 
 Let not your heart be troubled : ye believe in God, 
 
 2 believe also in me. In my Father's house are many 
 mansions : if it were not so, I would have told you. 
 
 3 I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and 
 prepare a place for you, I will come again, and 
 receive you unto myself ; that where I am, there ye 
 
 4 may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the 
 
 5 way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we 
 know not whither thou goest ; and how can we 
 
 6 know the way ? Jesus saith unto him, I am the 
 way, the truth, and the life : no man cometh unto 
 
 7 the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye 
 should have known my Father also : and from 
 
 8 henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip 
 saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it 
 
 9 sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him. Have I been so 
 long time with you, and yet hast thou not known 
 me, Philip ? he that hath seen me hath seen the 
 Father ; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the 
 
 10 Father ? BeUevest thou not that I am in the 
 Father, and the Father in me ? the words that I 
 speak unto you I speak not of myself : but the 
 Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 
 
 11 Beheve me that I am in the Father, and the Father 
 in me : or else believe me for the very works' sake. 
 
 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on 
 me, the works that I do shall he do also ; and greater 
 works than these shall he do ; because I go unto my 
 
 13 Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, 
 that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in 
 
 14 the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I 
 will do it. 
 
 12 
 
178 Westminster New Testament 
 
 This fourteenth chapter, with the two following 
 ones, gives a record of the sayings arising from 
 the profound pity and love felt by Jesus for the 
 disciples whom He was now to leave. As pre- 
 viously noted, it is on His disciples, not on 
 Himself, that His thought is fixed ; and as in the 
 foregoing chapter He has been anxious to secure 
 that the true spirit of love should possess them 
 after He is gone, so now He turns Himself to the 
 more direct task of strengthening them to bear 
 the trial that lay ahead. The substance of His 
 message through chapters 14-16 is that He is not 
 really leaving them, that He will in living power 
 be with them even after His death, able to succour 
 them and give Himself to them just as when He 
 was with them in bodily form. The phase of this 
 idea embodied in the present section is this. 
 Through the return of Jesus to the Father, the 
 ministry of Jesus will become more powerful, 
 since all restrictions of place and time will be 
 removed. The essential oneness between Himself 
 and God will become in a manner more strongly 
 operative for the disciples' good. 
 
 1. Let not your heart be troubled. It was 
 but natural that the disciples should be distressed 
 by the knowledge, just imparted, that one of their 
 number was to betray the Master, and one to 
 deny. 
 
 ye believe in God. Or '' believe," imperative. 
 In either case, the meaning is the same — that faith 
 in God should lead to faith in Jesus as the revela- 
 tion of Him. 
 
 2. The verse is usually taken as referring to the 
 heavenly life beyond, and of course it has this 
 application. But the more important meaning is 
 
St. John 179 
 
 that the stage of communion with the divine life 
 at which the disciples had hitherto been living was 
 but a preliminary to another. There was an 
 experience of union with God in Christ before 
 them which was as much a "mansion" in the 
 "Father's house" as this experience of human 
 fellowship with Jesus had been. By His return to 
 God^ Jesus was going to "prepare" this place — to 
 make this experience possible. 
 
 3. The necessary consequence Avas that in some 
 way Jesus would come back and unite His 
 disciples with Himself. How this was to be is 
 more fully explained in the next section (vv. 
 15-24). 
 
 4. They should have understood all this before. 
 So in v. 2 Jesus has said that if it had not been 
 so, He would have told them. It ought to have 
 seemed the natural thing to them, and to have 
 needed no assurance or proof. 
 
 5. The disciples, Thomas being this time 
 spokesman, show that they are not able to 
 relate together all the great ideas which Jesus 
 has brought before them, now and on previous 
 occasions. 
 
 6. This verse embodies some of the great ideas 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 I am the way, etc. Jesus is the Way, inasmuch 
 as to be one with Him is to be one with God. He 
 is the Truth, inasmuch as He sets the life which is 
 united with Him on to the true and divinely 
 ordained line (see 1. 14). He is the Life, inas- 
 much as He makes man partaker of the divine life 
 that is in Him. And it is to be noted that Jesus 
 is these things — does not merely give reliable 
 teaching about them. Actual oneness with Him, 
 
i8o Westminster New Testament 
 
 therefore, is the condition of finding all these things 
 in Him. 
 
 7. A large ^^if." " If ye had apprehended Me/' 
 gives the idea. They had known without appre- 
 hending, seen without perceiving. 
 
 8, 9. Philip wishes for an outward manifestation 
 of the Father which the eye of flesh could see. 
 Nothing could more emphatically reveal the 
 distance at which the thought of the disciples 
 still remained from that of Jesus, even after all 
 their intercourse with Him. Jesus, in reply, can 
 but reiterate the declaration of oneness with God 
 which we have so often heard Him make. 
 
 SO long time with you. Almost a gentle 
 touch of satire — at least of surprise mingled with 
 regret. 
 
 10, 11. An emphatic repetition of the claim 
 to oneness with God, with added mention of the 
 words and works in which some of the evidence 
 can be found. Jesus, as it were, goes over 
 the elementary alphabet of the thing with this 
 dull pupil. 
 
 12. Jesus escapes from the bewilderments of the 
 immediate questioning to the larger conception 
 with which He is seeking to comfort the disciples' 
 hearts. The ministry of His disciples — which will 
 be His own ministry in them — will continue and 
 increase through that very departure of His which 
 is paining them. 
 
 greater works. Not necessarily referring to 
 any miraculous works, but to the marvellous 
 extension of the influence of the Gospel through 
 all time. 
 
 because I go unto my Father. The Christ 
 who was no longer in the flesh would, through that 
 
St. John i8i 
 
 very deliverance from things local and earthly, 
 supply all the greater impulse and power to 
 His own. 
 
 13, 14. Another promise concerning the larger 
 benefits that would result from the going away of 
 Jesus, and the power with which the disciples 
 would be endowed. They would be mighty in 
 prayer. 
 
 in my name. That is, in the spirit of 
 Jesus, and under the inspiration of His mind and 
 heart. 
 
 that will I do, etc. Jesus Himself will give 
 effect to the petitions of His disciples ; and it 
 is thus through Him that God will work His 
 will. 
 
 John 14. 15-24. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : JESUS FORETELLS 
 THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will 
 
 16 pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
 Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever ; 
 
 17 even the Spirit of truth ; whom the world cannot 
 receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth 
 him: but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with yon, 
 
 18 and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless : 
 
 19 I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world 
 seeth me no more ; but ye see me : because I live, 
 
 20 ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I 
 
 21 am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He 
 that hath my commandments, and keepeth them» 
 he it is that loveth me : and he that loveth me shall 
 be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will 
 
 22 manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not 
 
i82 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest 
 
 23 thyself unto us, and not unto the world ? Jesus 
 answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he 
 will keep my words : and my Father will love him, 
 and we will come unto him, and make our abode 
 
 24 with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my 
 sayings : and the word which ye hear is not mine, 
 but the Father's which sent me. 
 
 This section is inspired by the same main idea 
 as the last. Still desiring to impress upon His 
 disciples the truth that He will^ after His death, 
 be with them in as true a sense as ever, Jesus 
 speaks of the coming of that Spirit which is really 
 (v. 18) to be His own continuecl life. 
 
 15-17. Putting the idea in as simple a form as 
 possible (since the listeners have been unable to 
 comprehend that profounder idea which He has 
 just been expounding, the idea that through death 
 His influence for them and in them would be all 
 the greater), Jesus now makes the direct assertion 
 that another Presence will be sent to take the 
 place of His own bodily presence withdrawn. 
 
 If ye love me, etc. Only on the condition of 
 love and its resultant obedience (^^ ye will keep," 
 as in R.V., instead of the imperative "keep," 
 leaves the meaning unchanged) can this Presence 
 be realised. The world, not fulfilling the conditions, 
 cannot know the Spirit (v. 17). 
 
 another Comforter. The word rather means 
 "Advocate." In this instance, however, the idea 
 is that of the effect of the Spirit's ministry upon 
 the disciples, and the Spirit is therefore viewed as 
 the " Advocate," or representative, of Jesus to the 
 hearts of men. This is in harmony with the trend 
 of the whole passage. 
 
St. John 183 
 
 for ever. In contrast with the temporary 
 abiding of Jesus with them in human form. 
 
 18. Yet this Spirit is really to be Jesus 
 Himself^ for He is not going to leave them. 
 Jesus is above all things anxious that this shall 
 be understood. 
 
 19. because I live, etc. It was because Jesus 
 did not die, spite of the superficial appearance, 
 that the disciples would live in a spiritual sense 
 and in fulness of spiritual experience. Jesus is 
 really emphasising once again the truth that He 
 is not going from them. " Whatever life, in the 
 best sense, you know, you will know only 
 because I Myself am living in you." That identi- 
 fication of the disciples with Jesus in which 
 alone true life could be found, would still be 
 possible. 
 
 20. Here Jesus returns upon the previous talk, 
 repeating the conception of vv. 9-11. 
 
 21. A recapitulation of what has just been said 
 — only now Jesus speaks of Himself as coming to 
 the disciples instead of the coming of the Spirit. 
 The obedience springing from love will secure 
 the continued presence and manifestation of 
 Jesus. 
 
 22. Judas. Called Lebbaeus or Thaddaeus 
 (see Matt. 10. 3 and Mark 3. 18). 
 
 The question implies that Judas, in common 
 doubtless with the others, was looking for a public 
 manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah, and could 
 not understand why it was withheld. 
 
 23. Jesus first of all, instead of replying, repeats 
 w^hat He has just said, thus endeavouring to drive 
 the mind of the questioner to a more spiritual point 
 of view. If Judas pondered these things and com- 
 
i84 Westminster New Testament 
 
 prehended them, he would see why such a manifesta- 
 tion as he looked for was impossible. 
 
 24. The more direct reply is given in these 
 words. The world, which did not obey, could not 
 receive the manifestation of Jesus. 
 
 John 14. 25-31. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : REPETITION OF SOME 
 OF THE PREVIOUS IDEAS. 
 
 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet 
 
 26 present with you. But the Comforter, which is 
 the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my 
 name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all 
 things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said 
 
 27 unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
 unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 
 Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
 
 28 afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go 
 away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, 
 ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father : 
 
 29 for my Father is greater than I. And now I have 
 told you before it come to pass, that, when it is 
 
 30 come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will 
 not talk much with you : for the prince of this world 
 
 31 Cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the 
 world may know that I love the Father ; and as the 
 Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, 
 let us go hence. 
 
 At the close of this section of the conversation, 
 Jesus repeats, as if for greater impression and 
 surer remembrance, some of the things He has 
 already said. 
 
St. John 185 
 
 25, 26. First of all. He recurs to the coming of 
 the Spirit — doubtless in order that the disciples 
 might keep expectant and open minds. They 
 might not yet understand all these things, but 
 if they yielded to that Spirit which was to be the 
 continued presence of Jesus, all would become 
 
 the Holy Ghost. Or, "the Holy Spirit." It 
 has been implied in previous references that the 
 Spirit was to be a Spirit of holiness. The Spirit's 
 coming was to be conditional on moral qualities in 
 the disciples (v. 15), and it would, coming from 
 the Father, be productive of holiness in the hearts 
 of men. 
 
 in my name. As the representative of 
 Jesus. 
 
 27. Here Jesus returns to the matter of the 
 disciples' inner rest, which He has spoken of in 
 V. 1. To speak peace was a customary Eastern 
 salutation, but the saying of Jesus goes much 
 further. He actually gives His peace. Of course 
 an inward condition can only be transferred by the 
 actual moral and spiritual union of him who is to 
 receive it with him from whom it is to be trans- 
 ferred. Jesus, therefore, has again in mind the 
 absolute oneness which should subsist between His 
 disciples and Himself. 
 
 my peace I give. The peace which in His 
 oneness with God He Himself enjoys. 
 
 28. Here Jesus returns to the idea that through 
 His departure His ministry and His power would 
 be increased. 
 
 If ye loved me, etc. Some slight reproach 
 and disappointment is implied. Of course the 
 disciples loved the Master, but not with a love 
 
i86 Westminster New Testament 
 
 which enabled them to understand His heart and 
 mind. 
 
 my Father is greater than I. The subordina- 
 tion of the Son to the Father has always been a 
 cardinal point of Christian doctrine. Since the 
 Father was greater than the Son, there would, in 
 the closer union between them which would follow 
 upon Jesus' death, be more of the Father's 
 eternal power at the disposal, if it may be so put, 
 of the Son. 
 
 29. Compare 13. 19. When the disciples had 
 entered into the experience of what the departed, 
 and yet present Jesus could do, they would 
 remember His Mord, and the experience would 
 prove how true the word had been. 
 
 30, 31. Hereafter I will not talk much 
 with you. The time for speech was gone by. 
 The last conflict had now to be faced (^^ for the 
 prince of this world cometh "). 
 
 But that the world may know, etc. The 
 
 " prince of this world " had nothing in Jesus. All 
 he had to do was to show, by his very assault on 
 Jesus, and through the way in which Jesus met 
 it, how entirely devoted Jesus was to His Father's 
 will. 
 
 Arise, let us go hence. It is frequently 
 assumed that at this point Jesus and His disciples 
 left the upper room. It is probable, however, 
 that, after the motion towards leaving, the con- 
 versation was resumed; and the words of 18. 1 
 seem to indicate that this was so. Preferably, 
 therefore, the chapters 15-17 are taken as also 
 belonging to the discourse in the upper room. 
 
St. John 187 
 
 John 15. i-ii. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : THE VINE AND THE 
 BRANCHES. 
 
 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husband- 
 
 2 man. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit 
 he taketh away : and every branch that beareth 
 fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more 
 
 3 fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which 
 
 4 I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in 
 you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, 
 except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except 
 
 5 ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches : 
 He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same 
 bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can 
 
 6 do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast 
 forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men gather 
 them, and cast them into the fire, and they are 
 
 7 burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in 
 you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done 
 
 8 unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye 
 
 9 bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples. As 
 the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you : 
 
 10 continue ye in my love. If ye keep my command- 
 ments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have kept 
 my Father's commandments, and abide in his 
 
 11 love. These things have I spoken unto you, that 
 my joy might remain in you, and that your joy 
 might be full. 
 
 Still pursuing the purpose of showing how 
 under the shadow of death Jesus kept His 
 thoughts fixed, not upon Himself, but upon His 
 disciples, John now sets down the allegory of the 
 vine and the branches. In this allegory Jesus 
 
i88 Westminster New Testament 
 
 insists again upon the conception of a union, 
 subsequent to His departure, between His followers 
 and Himself, thus bringing forward again the 
 essential idea of 14. 15-24, the idea of His 
 continued life with His own. In the present 
 section, however, oneness with Jesus is looked 
 upon from the standpoint of duty rather than from 
 that of privilege ; and the disciples are told that 
 only as they enter into this oneness can they be 
 true. 
 
 1. the true vine. That is, the "perfect" 
 vine, the ideal Source of life. The vine is fre- 
 quently used in the Old Testament as the symbol 
 of the chosen people of God, and the figure would 
 have no novelty to Jesus' hearers. See specially 
 Isa. 5. 1-7 and Jer. 2. 21. In adopting the 
 metaphor, however, Jesus changes it somewhat. 
 It is He, not the disciples, whom the symbol now 
 covers. It is as though He meant to indicate 
 that the part of the vine was too great a part for 
 the disciples to play : they would not be able to 
 repay God's cultivation. So they had to be merely 
 the branches, Jesus Himself being the vine ; and 
 they had but to receive their life from Him. 
 
 2. Both a warning and a promise. They could 
 only keep their place in the kingdom if they proved 
 themselves, through their union with Jesus, 
 spiritually fruitful ; and, in so far as they realised 
 that union and bore fruit, they might look for a 
 still further growth in fruitfulness through the 
 discipline they would undergo. 
 
 purgeth. Better, as in R.V., "cleanseth," 
 thus making the connection with the following 
 verse. 
 
 3. Compare 13. 10. Here, as there, it does not 
 
St. John i8g 
 
 mean that the eleansmg process was complete, 
 but that it was genumely begun. The process 
 described in the second part of v. 2 was going on 
 in tlie disciples ; and Jesus sees it as it were 
 ideally finished. 
 
 4. This verse embodies the great idea of the 
 true believer's identification of himself with Christ 
 — the idea which in so many ways the Fourth 
 Gospel expounds. As stated here, it is simplicity 
 itself ; and in this allegorical form would be grasped 
 by many who might be baffled by some of the 
 other sayings of Jesus. 
 
 6. A repetition, for the sake of emphasis and 
 greater impression. 
 
 7. Perhaps recalling that the topic of prayer 
 has already been mentioned in the conversation 
 (14. 13, 14), Jesus alludes to it again, declaring 
 that this abiding in Him is the condition of prayer 
 that prevails. The principle is entirely reasonable. 
 Oneness with Jesus means a oneness of will and 
 desire ; and therefore, as a natural consequence, 
 they who abide in Jesus will ask for nothing that 
 must be refused. 
 
 8. The thought that through His relation to 
 His disciples, and through their acceptance of it 
 and their right self-adjustment to it, the will of 
 God is being worked out, is never absent from 
 Jesus' mind. That God was being glorified was 
 the master-idea within Him. 
 
 9. 10. Jesus now drops the metaphor, but still 
 insists upon the same idea. The disciples are to 
 abide in Jesus, and it is only. He goes on to remind 
 them, through obedience that they can do so. He 
 adds the further element, which deepens and 
 enlarges the idea, that this relationship between 
 
igo Westminster New Testament 
 
 Himself and the disciples^ to which He is summon- 
 ing thenij is the same relation as that which 
 subsists between Himself and the Father. This 
 has already been suggested in previous passages 
 (for instance^ 6. 57), and is afterwards spoken of by- 
 Jesus in His supplication to the Father (17. 23). 
 
 continue ye in my love. The connection of 
 the whole is better preserved by translating, as in 
 R.V., " abide ye." Certainly the same word should 
 be employed in v, 9 and v. 10. 
 
 11. It is noteworthy that Jesus should be able, 
 with the Cross so near, to speak of His joy. It is 
 a greater thing even than the ''peace" of which 
 He has spoken in 14. 27 — a more positive and 
 bounding thing. The context shows that His joy 
 came to Him through His obedience to the 
 Father's will and His consequent abiding in His 
 Father's love. Similarly, His disciples^ if they 
 kept His commandments, and abode in His love, 
 would feel Jesus' joyful heart-throb. For it was 
 His joy they were to possess. 
 
 John 15. 12-17. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM: LOVE TO BE AMONG 
 THE DISCIPLES, AFTER THE EXAMPLE 
 OF JESUS HIMSELF. 
 
 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one an- 
 
 13 other, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no 
 man than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
 
 14 friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I 
 
 15 command yon. Henceforth I call you not servants ; 
 for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth : 
 but I have called you friends ; for all things that I 
 
St. John 191 
 
 have heard of my Father 1 have made known unto 
 
 16 you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen 
 you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring 
 forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain : that 
 whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he 
 
 17 may give it you. These things I command you, that 
 ye love one another. 
 
 At this point Jesus goes back to the idea with 
 which nearly the whole of chapter 1 3 was occupied, 
 the idea of love among those whom He was going 
 to leave behind. Indeed, as we shall presently 
 see, the recapitulation goes further than this ; for, 
 having spoken of this matter of brotherly love, 
 Jesus takes the same step of thought as before 
 (although the parenthetical section vv. 18-25 here 
 intervenes), and goes on to speak of the coming 
 of the Spirit. His mind is, as previously observed, 
 moving ceaselessly to and fro between the desire that 
 the right spirit shall dwell in His followers after He 
 is gone, and the desire to comfort them for their loss. 
 
 Here, as in the previous treatment, Jesus urges 
 His own love as the pattern to which the disciples 
 are to conform. Now, however, it is His love as 
 shown in His death — a greater love than that 
 which prompted the washing of His followers' 
 feet — to which He points. 
 
 12, 13. as I have loved you. Probably they 
 did not know, even yet, how He had loved them, 
 nor to what His love was going to lead. At any 
 rate, they did not realise it. That Jesus was 
 thinking of His death is obvious from v. 13. His 
 words are very likely an allusion to Peter's remark 
 in 13. 37. Jesus would do for Peter what Peter had 
 too rashly declared himself ready to do for Jesus. 
 
192 Westminster New Testament 
 
 14. This, with vv. 15 and 16, is a parenthesis, 
 to the utterance of which Jesus is led by the occur- 
 rence of the word " friends." 
 
 15. Compare 13. 13. Although Jesus is Master 
 and Lord, yet He is anxious that the relation 
 between His disciples and Himself shall not be one 
 of merely blind submission. He has sought to 
 introduce them to an understanding of His secret 
 heart and mind — which are the heart and mind of 
 the Father. Discipleship may have to begin with 
 blind submission not seldom, but it should not stop 
 at that stage. 
 
 16. There is superficially, though not really, a 
 slight inconsistency between this verse and the 
 last. Jesus does not call the disciples servants, 
 and yet He is anxious to impress upon them that 
 only because He has chosen them are they in their 
 present position. The authority is His. The 
 true emphasis, however, falls upon the purpose of 
 the " choosing " — " that ye should go and bring 
 forth fruit," etc. Jesus has held them so truly His 
 friends that He has selected them for the lofty 
 destiny these phrases reveal. 
 
 17. Here Jesus returns to the commandment 
 He wishes to write upon the disciples' memories. 
 
 John 15. 18-25. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : THE DISCIPLES AND 
 THE WORLD. 
 
 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me 
 
 19 before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the 
 world would love his own : but because ye are not 
 of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. 
 
St. John 193 
 
 20 therefore the world hateth you. Remember the 
 word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater 
 than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they 
 will also persecute you ; if they have kept my saying, 
 
 21 they will keep yours also. But all these things 
 will they do unto you for my name's sake, because 
 
 22 they know not him that sent me. If I had not 
 come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin : 
 
 23 but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that 
 
 24 hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not 
 done among them the works which none other man 
 did, they had not had sin : but now have they both 
 
 25 seen and hated both me and my Father. But this 
 Cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled 
 that is written in their law, They hated me without a 
 cause. 
 
 This section makes, as stated just now, a 
 parenthesis between the renewed reiteration of 
 the commandment of love and that of the coming 
 of the Comforter. The vision of the band of 
 loving disciples linked together by the chains of 
 love has called up also a vision of the hostile world 
 through which that band will have to take its way. 
 And so Jesus seeks to hearten the disciples against 
 the hatred of the world, to lift them above it;, by 
 reminding them that their experience of the 
 world's hostility will but copy His own. 
 
 18, 19. the world. Meaning the whole body 
 of unspiritual ideals — materialistic, pleasure- 
 dominated, and sinful — and all who live by them. 
 The idea of this kingdom of low ideals, in anti- 
 thesis to the kingdom of spiritual ideals, is frequent 
 in John's First Epistle. Indeed, 1 John 3. 13 
 seems like a definite reminiscence of this 
 conversation. 
 
194 Westminster New Testament 
 
 The union between the disciples and Jesus 
 would make the disciples of so distinctive a spiritual 
 quality that the "world" could not but hate 
 them. 
 
 20. Remember the word, etc. See 13. i6. 
 Here, however, the application is different. In^ 
 the previous instance, the inference was that the 
 disciples must not deem themselves too great for 
 lowly service — here, that they must be willing to 
 suffer, as their Master suffered. 
 
 21. all these things. An elliptical construction, 
 but the reference is clearly to the persecuting 
 spoken of in v. 20. 
 
 for my name's sake. Recognising Jesus in 
 the disciples. 
 
 because they know not him that sent 
 me. The persecutors will recognise Jesus in His 
 followers, but they will not recognise God and 
 God's authority either in Jesus or in His followers. 
 They will recognise just enough to make them 
 hate and persecute, but not enough to make them 
 submit. 
 
 22. The thought of Jesus passes to a slightly 
 different line. These men, who have never 
 "known" or recognised the divineness in Jesus, 
 are without excuse. For, as Jesus has repeatedly 
 claimed, the revelation in Him was so clear that 
 only wilful blindness could fail to see. 
 
 23. A repetition of v. 22. To hate Jesus is to 
 have no eye for God. 
 
 24. the works which none other man did. 
 Jesus frequently passes from the evidential value 
 of what He is to the evidential value of what 
 He does — though always with the implication of a 
 descent. If the unbelievers are unable to appre- 
 
St. John 195 
 
 ciate the majesty of His holiness^ the witness of His 
 works is at least clear and tangible. Even the 
 morally blinded or half-blinded ought to admit 
 that. 
 
 For a similar transition to the evidential worth 
 of "works" see 10. 38 and 14. 11. 
 
 25. See Psalms 35. 19 and 69. 4. 
 
 John 15. 26-16. 15. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : JESUS AGAIN FORE- 
 TELLS THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send 
 unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, 
 which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify 
 
 27 of me : And ye also shall bear witness, because ye 
 
 1 have been with me from the beginning. These 
 things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not 
 
 2 be offended. They shall put you out of the syna- 
 gogues : yea, the time cometh, that whosoever 
 killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 
 
 3 And these things will they do unto you, because 
 
 4 they have not known the Father, nor me. But 
 these things have I told you, that when the time 
 shall come, ye may remember that I told you of 
 them. And these things I said not unto you at the 
 
 5 beginning, because I was with you. But now I go 
 my way to him that sent me ; and none of you 
 
 6 asketh me. Whither goest thou ? But because I 
 have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled 
 
 7 your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It 
 is expedient for you that I go away : for if I go not 
 away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but 
 
 8 if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when 
 
196 Westminster New Testament 
 
 he is come, he will reprove the world of siu, and of 
 9 righteousness, and of judgment : Of sin, because 
 
 10 they believe not on me ; Of righteousness, because 
 
 11 I go to my Father, and ye see me no more ; Of 
 judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 
 
 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye 
 
 1 3 cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit 
 of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth : 
 for he shall not speak of himself ; but whatsoever 
 he shall hear, that shall he speak : and he will 
 
 14 shew you things to come. He shall glorify me : 
 for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto 
 
 1 5 you. All things that the Father hath are mine : 
 therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall 
 shew it unto you. 
 
 It was previously noted that Jesus is now making 
 the same movement of thought as before. Just as 
 He has already passed from the idea of the love 
 which He would have existing among His followers 
 aftc'- His death (chap. 13) to the idea of the 
 coming of the Spirit (14. 15-26), so now He passes 
 from the exhortation to love contained in 15. 12-17 
 to a further prophecy of the Spirit's advent. There 
 has been in this instance a parenthetical utterance 
 concerning the relation of the disciples to the 
 world, but the main movement of thought is the 
 same. 
 
 There is, in this presentation of it, an added 
 element in the idea of the Spirit's coming. The 
 Spirit is still looked upon, as before, as being the 
 continued life and presence of Jesus Himself; but 
 there is the additional idea that the Spirit will 
 bring the vindication of Jesus against the unbelief 
 of men (16. 8-11). In the main, however, not- 
 withstanding such slight modifications or additions 
 
St. John 197 
 
 as these (just as in the allegory of the vine the 
 realisation of the continued life of Jesus was looked 
 at from the standpoint of duty rather than of 
 privilege), the thought of Jesus is occupied with 
 the two main ideas of the whole discourse — the 
 idea of the spirit the disciples should show, and 
 the idea that He Himself would be with them 
 still. 
 
 26. the Comforter. Or/^ Advocate." See on 
 14. 17. 
 
 whom I will send. " I " is emphatic. Jesus 
 insists at every opportunity upon the truth that 
 the Spirit is His own continued influence. 
 
 he shall testify of me. The thought of the 
 
 world's hatred of Him is still lingering in the 
 mind of Jesus, although He is passing on to another 
 topic. Hence this phrase. Hence also the assertion 
 that the Spirit will vindicate Jesus, which we shall 
 presently come upon in vv. 8-11. 
 
 27. And ye also shall bear witness, etc. 
 The disciples, having known the historical Jesus, 
 would find the true manifestations of the Spirit to 
 be in entire harmony with that knowledge. One 
 may deduce the inference that nothing claiming to 
 be the work of the Spirit is really so unless it 
 reveals that harmony. The historical Christ is the 
 basis and the test. 
 
 1. These things. Referring, in this instance, 
 not to the discourse as a whole, but specially to 
 the matter just now in hand. Whatever might 
 happen to the disciples, however they might grieve 
 for Jesus' loss, and whatever suffering might come 
 upon them (v. 2), they would be kept from utter 
 bewilderment and failure if they remembered 
 Jesus' words. 
 
198 Westminster New Testament 
 
 be offended. Better, as in R.V., ^^made to 
 stumble" — in the path of diseipleship. 
 
 2, 3. The history of the Church has proved this 
 on a large scale. Much persecution has been in 
 the name of God Himself. But this has only been 
 possible because (v. 3) the character of God and 
 Christ has been Avrongly apprehended. 
 
 4. And these things I said not unto you, 
 etc. It had not been necessary at first to guard 
 the disciples against the sadness of parting. Yet 
 Jesus had often foretold His death, although not 
 entering upon the subject, and upon its relation to 
 the spiritual future of His followers, with fulness. 
 
 5, 6. and none of you asketh me, etc But 
 see 13. S6, where Peter has put precisely this 
 question. It had, however, been out of all 
 relation to the real position. Peter had had no 
 conception of that ^^ going to the Father" of which 
 Jesus was full ; and consequently only sorrow had 
 entered into his heart and that of his companions. 
 Had thev understood, they would have rejoiced 
 (14. 28> 
 
 7. It is expedient, etc. This coming of the 
 Spirit to take the place of the visible Lord was not 
 a matter of making the best of things, a more or 
 less satisfactory compensation. It was really to 
 the spiritual advantage of the disciples ; and it 
 was a loftier experience to which they would be 
 introduced. 
 
 8. reprove. Better, as in margin, " convince," 
 or as in K.V., "convict." 
 
 9. Of sin. The manifest results of the Spirit's 
 ministry would be a decisive proof that in rejecting 
 Jesus, whose ministry the Spirit perpetuated, the 
 world had committed sin. 
 
St. John 199 
 
 10. Of righteousness. Similarly, the results 
 of the Spirit's ministry -vvould all be in the direc- 
 tion of holiness, and the world would be compelled 
 to admit the fact. 
 
 11. Of judgment. The fruits of the Spirit 
 would stand as the condemnation of the 
 spirit of the world, and would mark the latter's 
 defeat. 
 
 12-14. many things. All that Jesus had said 
 to His disciples was but a beginning. The future 
 reign of the Spirit was to be a time, not only of 
 repetition, but of enlargement and development. 
 Fuller vision of all the spiritual ideals for which 
 Jesus stood (and, of course, since nowhere in this 
 discourse is a merely intellectual advance looked 
 upon as the principal thing, fuller power to 
 realise them) would be the note of the Spirit's 
 reign. 
 
 ye cannot bear them now. Not, ^^ye cannot 
 understand." The disciples were not yet at the 
 point of spiritual growth at which they could 
 endure the vision of the highest spiritual ideals. 
 Again, it is not the intellectual side of things on 
 which the emphasis falls. 
 
 he shall not speak of himself. Once more, 
 insistence on the truth that Jesus and the Spirit 
 are one. V. 14 yet again insists on the one- 
 ness of the Spirit's ministry with that of Jesus 
 Himself. 
 
 15. As the Spirit possesses the things of Jesus 
 (v. 14), so Jesus possesses the things of the 
 Father, and thus the uniting chain runs through 
 the Three in One. 
 
Westminster New Testament 
 
 John 16. 16-24. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : JESUS GOING AND 
 RETURNING. 
 
 16 A little while, and ye shall not see me : and again, a 
 little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the 
 
 17 Father. Then said some of his disciples among 
 themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A 
 little while, and ye shall not see me : and again, a 
 little while, and ye shall see me : and, Because I go 
 
 18 to the Father ? They said therefore. What is this 
 that he saith, A little while ? we cannot tell what 
 
 19 he saith. Now Jesus knew that they were desirous 
 to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire 
 among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and 
 ye shall not see me : and again, a little while, and ye 
 
 20 shall see me ? Veril}^ verily, I say unto you, That 
 ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice : 
 and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be 
 
 21 turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail 
 hath sorrow, because her hour is come : but as soon 
 as she is deHvered of the child, she remembereth no 
 more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into 
 
 22 the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow : but 
 I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, 
 
 23 and your joy no man taketh from you. And in 
 that day ye shall ask me notliiug. Verily, verily, 
 I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father 
 
 24 in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have 
 ye asked nothing in my name : ask, and ye shall 
 receive, that your joy may be full. 
 
 In this section Jesus puts in still another way — 
 without actual metaphor, and yet without making 
 an explicit declaration that it is to death He is 
 
St. John 20I 
 
 referring — the truth that He is about to leave His 
 disciples, and to return to them again. He is 
 preparing, by His adoption of most literal language, 
 for that explicit declaration, which He has avoided 
 hitherto, since the disciples were not ready to 
 endure it. See on vv. 17, 18, and on the following 
 section. 
 
 16. The first "little while" refers, of course, to 
 the impending death on the Cross. The second 
 "little while" refers to that spiritual coming of 
 Jesus whereof He has been speaking, and 
 which would be made possible by His return to 
 God. 
 
 17, 18. The disciples had not yet grasped what 
 was indicated by this "going away" of which 
 their Master M^as speaking. Peter, for instance, 
 had taken it to be something in the nature of a 
 literal journey (13. 37). And if the thought of 
 death had occurred to them, as in view of previous 
 predictions of Jesus it well might do, they had 
 not let it take hold. And the whole thing was 
 further complicated for them by the recurring 
 reference to "going to the Father." What could 
 this mean ? It might throw doubt upon the 
 simpler solutions as to "going away" (the solution 
 of a journey, etc.), but it did not, for the disciples, 
 bring its own solution. 
 
 19. Jesus, desiring to lead up to the definite 
 statement that it is of death He has all through 
 been speaking, takes the initiative of the discussion. 
 The disciples were perhaps afraid of asking for 
 further explanations. 
 
 20. This is a further preparation. Death is not 
 mentioned, but the foretold incidents — the sorrow 
 of the disciples, and the joy of the hostile world — 
 
202 Westminster New Testament 
 
 are such as the death of Jesus might be expected 
 to produce. 
 
 21-22. Yet further preparation. Jesus now 
 adds, however^ the comforting statement that He 
 will see them again. Joined to the statement in 
 V. 16 that the disciples would see Him, it fore- 
 tells a resumption of that mutual companionship — 
 the give and take of fellowship, so to say — which 
 was soon to be closed in its present form. 
 
 23. Ye shall ask me nothing. That is, ye 
 
 shall have no more puzzling questions to put. In 
 that renewed spiritual fellowship all inquiries 
 would be answered, all longings satisfied. This 
 experience of course still waits for realisation, 
 since men do not pass into the fulness of spiritual 
 fellowship that is open to them. 
 Whatsoever ye shall ask, etc. "Ask" here 
 
 is a different word. Jesus is returning in this 
 phrase to the idea of effectual prayer, as resulting 
 from real spiritual fellowship with Him. See 14. 
 14, and 15. I6. 
 
 24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing, etc. 
 
 They had not yet understood the greatness of the 
 privileges given to them through their communion 
 with Jesus. The fact of His physical presence, 
 while a needful beginning of the larger experience, 
 had in a manner been a barrier. The spiritual 
 union which after He was gone would be more 
 easily possible to them, would lead them into a 
 realisation of their privilege, and so to a " fulfill- 
 ing " of their joy. 
 
St. John 20: 
 
 John 16. 25-33. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : THE EXPLICIT 
 DECLARATION. 
 
 25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs : 
 but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak 
 unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly 
 
 26 of the Father. At that day ye shall ask in my 
 name : and I say not unto you, that I will pray the 
 
 27 Father for you : For the Father himself loveth 
 you, because ye have loved me, and have believed 
 
 28 that I came out from God. I came forth from the 
 Father, and am come into the world : again, I leave 
 
 29 the world, and go to the Father. His disciples 
 said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and 
 
 30 speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou 
 knowest all things, and needest not that any man 
 should ask thee : by this we believe that thou 
 
 31 camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do 
 
 32 ye now believe ? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, 
 is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man 
 to his own, and shall leave me alone : and yet I am 
 
 33 not alone, because the Father is with me. These 
 things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might 
 have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation : 
 but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world. 
 
 At last Jesus makes the definite and categorical 
 declaration (v. 28) that He is about to leave the 
 world. And at last the disciples understand. It 
 may seem strange that their bewilderment and 
 uncertainty had endured so long ; but^ notwith- 
 standing the many prophecies of His decease 
 which Jesus had given, and notwithstanding the 
 hints which had throughout this conversation 
 
204 Westminster New Testament 
 
 been repeatedly thrown out, they had not realised 
 that the end was so near. That it would come 
 some time, they may have felt sure. But the 
 imminence of the crisis was hidden from their 
 eyes. 
 
 The declaration has been withheld hitherto — 
 there has been only the preparation for it, the 
 leading up to it — because the disciples were not 
 fitted for it. All this that Jesus had been trying 
 to make them understand — the going to the 
 Father, the continuance of His life in the Father 
 and in the Spirit that was to come — they had not 
 grasped ; and without a grasp upon all this, the 
 idea of death w^ould come upon them with too 
 paralysing effect. What Jesus desired was that 
 together with the realisation of His impending 
 death, they should have a realisation of what was 
 to be beyond His death ; and it is to this that He 
 has been seeking to bring them. Now, however, 
 the definite declaration can no longer be delayed. 
 
 25. These things. Referring now to the dis- 
 course in its bearing upon His impending departure. 
 
 in proverbs. Or, '^in parables." The word 
 embraces any utterance which requires further 
 utterance fully to elucidate it. 
 
 the time COmeth, etc. In one sense Jesus 
 is just on the point of speaking plainly. But 
 the phrase '' of the Father " indicates that this 
 particular sentence looks on to the time when 
 under the ministry of the Spirit the disciples 
 should be sufficiently enlightened to understand 
 mysteries hidden now. For it is not precisely of 
 the Father, but of His death, that the immediate 
 statement of Jesus is going to tell. 
 
 26, 27. This also shows that it is of the time of 
 
St. John 205 
 
 fuller spiritual life that Jesus is thinking in v. 25. 
 The point of the verse is that by and by the 
 disciples will realise the entire oneness of Jesus 
 with God, and consequently (although the Son 
 always remains the Mediator) they will not think 
 of Him as persuading a reluctant God. 
 
 28. This verse gives the explicit declaration 
 that all through Jesus has had death in mind. 
 There could be no mistake as to what was meant 
 by " I leave the world." Even now, however, 
 Jesus couples with the declaration the other 
 declaration, that He came from God and returns 
 to God. 
 
 29, 30. The disciples understand at last. And 
 yet they do not fully understand ; for the fulness 
 of meaning implied in the phrase '^I go to the 
 Father" had received no further elucidation, and 
 this would be hidden from them still. But, 
 passing this by, they seize upon the one clear 
 point. Delivered from mystery, they can believe 
 — a curious sidelight on human nature. They are 
 impressed by the fact that Jesus can thus foretell 
 the end (" Now are we sure that thou knowest all 
 things," V. 30), and, although the " going to God " 
 is still put aside in their thought, they can take 
 Jesus without hesitation as having "come from 
 God." That is, not in the full sense of the words, 
 but in the sense of being a Teacher of the truth. 
 The fact that the words of the disciples almost 
 have a ring of relief in them, spite of the predic- 
 tion of death which has been at last understood, 
 serves to show how heavily the oppression of 
 mystery had lain upon the disciples' minds during 
 the whole talk. 
 
 31, 32. A touch of sadness is in Jesus' tone. 
 
2o6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 He knows that this " belief" of the disciples (the 
 belief based on the supposed dissipation of mystery) 
 will not take them very far. For the fulfilment 
 of the prediction, see Matthew 26. 56. And yet 
 the old comfort recurs once again — the thought 
 that "the Father is with me." 
 
 33. These things. Referring now to the 
 whole discourse — not only in its bearing upon His 
 death, but in every detail of it. It has all been 
 uttered in order that the disciples might be at rest. 
 
 In the world ye shall have tribulation, etc. 
 There could be no promise of escape from this. 
 But because Jesus had overcome, the disciples too 
 were to overcome. And this could only be through 
 their inward union with Him — since only thus 
 could He make His victory theirs. And so the 
 discourse ends upon the note which has been 
 repeatedly struck as it went on — struck, indeed, 
 repeatedly through the whole Gospel — the note 
 of absolute identification between the disciple and 
 his Lord. " In Him " they might have peace. 
 
 John 17. 
 
 THE UPPER ROOM : THE INTERCESSORY 
 PRAYER OF JESUS. 
 
 This chapter contains the intercessory, or high- 
 priestly, prayer of Jesus. In it we have the most 
 marvellous outpouring of the Master's heart that 
 the New Testament records. It is full of tender 
 yearning over the disciples, breathing the loftiest 
 desires for them : it reveals the intensity of Jesus' 
 own consecration to His mission and His devotion 
 
St. John 207 
 
 to His Father's glory : and at the same time it 
 testifies to the profound intimacy, the relation 
 of entire harmony, between the Father and the 
 Son, and to the repose which the heart of Jesus 
 found in lying back upon the heart of God. 
 Perhaps one of the most curious examples of 
 criticism is found in Bretschneider's remark, that 
 this prayer is " cold, dogmatic, metaphysical." 
 The judgment of the sympathetic student who 
 brings to the reading of this chapter any spiritual 
 insight and any understanding of the fundamental 
 conceptions of Jesus as the Fourth Gospel delivers 
 them, will surely be to a precisely opposite effect. 
 The whole prayer pulses with love and life. 
 
 The prayer — especially in the second and third 
 divisions of it — centres upon the conception which, 
 as we have seen, is the main conception of the 
 Fourth Gospel, the conception of Jesus as the 
 Author and Source of actual life to men. The 
 object of the supplication is that the experience 
 of the disciples, and of all subsequent generations 
 of believers, may be raised to this level, and that 
 all may be '^ one " in the possession of this divine 
 life which the Son receives from the Father and 
 hands on to His followers. So that when, later on, 
 John declares the purpose of his book to be "that 
 ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
 of God ; and that believing ye might have life 
 through his name," he does but make his own the 
 object which in this prayer Jesus Himself reveals 
 as being His heart's desire. 
 
 For convenience, the usual divisions of the 
 prayer may be adopted. First, Jesus' prayer for 
 Himself (vv. 1-5). Second, Jesus' prayer for 
 His disciples (vv. 6-19). Third, Jesus' prayer 
 
2o8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 for subsequent believers, or the Church (vv. 20- 
 24). Fourth, a final confidential utterance from 
 the Son to the Father (vv. 25, 26). 
 
 (A) 1-5. Jesus' Prayer for Himself. 
 
 1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes 
 to heaven, and said. Father, the hour is come ; 
 glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify 
 
 2 thee : As thou hast given him power over all flesh, 
 that he should give eternal life to as many as thou 
 
 3 hast given him. And this is Ufe eternal, that they 
 might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
 
 4 Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified 
 thee on the earth : I have finished the work which 
 
 5 thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify 
 thou me with thine own self with the glory which I 
 had with thee before the world was. 
 
 1. the hour is come, etc. Compare 12. 23. 
 This " glorifying " of the Son was a repeated 
 process, a process carried through whenever the 
 Son made a renewed acceptance of His mission 
 even unto death. The Son's glory and honour 
 lay in this surrender to the Father's will. This 
 request is equivalent to a fresh laying of Himself 
 upon the altar of sacrifice on Jesus' part. "Let 
 Me have the glory of performing Thy will unto the 
 end." 
 
 that thy Son also may glorify thee. By 
 accepting the glory of submission, Jesus gave back 
 to the Father the glory of seeing His purpose 
 fulfilled. See 13. 31, 32. 
 
 2. as. Meaning that the prayer in v. 1 is in 
 harmony with the purpose for which the Father 
 has sent the Son. Only by this " glorifying " 
 could the " eternal life " be given. 
 
St. John 209 
 
 eternal life. Here we come upon the first 
 mention in this prayer of its dominating idea — 
 the idea of " life " given to men from Jesus, its 
 Source. It is the great idea of this Gospel, and, 
 while running all through its chapters, has been 
 specially insisted on and expounded in chapters 5. 1 
 to 10. 18, as we have seen. The whole prayer can 
 only be understood as this idea is borne in mind 
 through the study of it, and as it is remembered 
 that by this conception Jesus' own mind was 
 possessed. 
 
 to as many as thou hast given him. See 
 
 on 6. 39, 44, 45. 
 
 3. that they might know. The word 
 "know" must be taken in its full signification. 
 Like "believe," the other great word which 
 describes the adjustment of man's personality to 
 Jesus, it goes far beyond any intellectual process. 
 Since it is actual " life " that is given in the Son, 
 man's adjustment to Jesus must be that of self- 
 identification with Him, and through Him, with 
 God ; and it is thus that " know " must be under- 
 stood. 
 
 Jesus Christ. The only instance in which 
 Jesus applies the title " Christ " to Himself It 
 has been suggested by some who think it unlikely 
 that on this single occasion Jesus should have done 
 so, that the Evangelist puts upon Jesus' lips the 
 designation which had later on become customary. 
 
 4, 5. Jesus looks back on what has been, and 
 forward upon what was to be. His work is done 
 (although the Cross had not yet been endured, 
 Jesus in His perfect submission feels that it lies, 
 as it were, already in the past), and before Him is 
 the return to that relation with the Father wherein 
 
 14 
 
2IO Westminster New Testament 
 
 in eternity He had stood. It is not to be inferred 
 from the fact of Jesus praying for this that He 
 had any doubt about it. His utterance is rather a 
 peaceful acceptance of the situation — a soUloquy 
 of His own soul. 
 
 (B) 6-1 9. Jesus' Prayer for the Disciples. 
 
 6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou 
 gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and 
 thou gavest them me ; and they have kept thy word. 
 
 7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever 
 
 8 thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given 
 unto them the words which thou gavest me ; and 
 they have received them, and have known surely 
 that I came out from thee, and they have believed 
 
 9 that thou didst send me. I pray for them : I pray 
 not for the world, but for them which thou hast 
 
 10 given me ; for they are thine. And all mine are 
 thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorified in 
 
 11 them. And now I am no more in the world, but 
 these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy 
 Father, keep through thine own name those whom 
 thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we 
 
 12 are. While I was with them in the world, I kept 
 them in thy name : those that thou gavest me 
 I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of 
 perdition ; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 
 
 13 And now come I to thee ; and these things I speak 
 in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled 
 
 14 in themselves. I have given them thy word ; and 
 the world hath hated them, because they are not 
 
 15 of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray 
 not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, 
 but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 
 
 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of 
 
 17 the world. Sanctify them through thy truth : thy 
 
St. John 211 
 
 1 8 word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, 
 
 19 even so have I also sent them into the world. And 
 for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also 
 might be sanctified through the truth. 
 
 6. I have manifested thy name, etc. In 
 
 part an amplification of the statement in v. 4. But 
 more especially, in view of the things Jesus is about 
 to ask on the disciples' behalf, the meaning is that 
 the beginning has been made in that process of 
 spiritual development whose continuance and com- 
 pletion is desired. 
 
 thine they were. They had been of those 
 who carried within them something that could 
 respond to the revelation of God. 
 
 thou gavest them me. The Father, having 
 manifested Himself in the Son, had consequently 
 '' given " or " drawn to " the Son all who could 
 recognise the divine. In the nature of things, 
 they belonged to Jesus. See 6. 37. 
 
 they have kept thy word. Not perfectly; 
 but Jesus again (as in 13. 10 and 15. 3) sees their 
 condition ideally complete. 
 
 7, 8. Again, a declaration that the disciples had 
 taken the initial steps. 
 
 9. I pray not for the world. Not, of course, 
 that Jesus did not yearn over the world, but that 
 at this time He had a special purpose. 
 
 10. A declaration that it was — speaking humanly 
 — a natural thing for Jesus to pray for His own. 
 For His own were God's own, and God's own were 
 Jesus' own — in praying for His disciples, therefore, 
 Jesus was praying for those who were God's. 
 
 I am glorified in them. The glory of Jesus 
 is bound up with the spiritual welfare of these 
 disciples. By hearing His prayer for them, 
 
212 Westminster New Testament 
 
 therefore, God will preserve the glory of His 
 Son. 
 11. And now I am no more in the world. 
 
 A simple statement of the occasion giving rise 
 to the prayer. The very simplicity of it — for of 
 course an obvious remark, from a critical point of 
 view, would be that surely the Father knew all 
 this before — shows how intimately Jesus was able 
 to speak to His Father's ear. Nothing is too 
 small, as nothing is too large, to be mentioned. 
 
 Holy Father. Holiness is the essential quality 
 of that divine life in which the disciples are to 
 participate. Appropriately, therefore, Jesus em- 
 phasises the epithet " Holy " in addressing the 
 Father concerning the disciples' future. 
 
 through thine own name. Better, as in R.V., 
 
 ^^in thy name" — the ^^name" standing for the 
 whole nature. " Keep truly united with Thine 
 own nature." 
 
 that they may be one, as we are. If the 
 disciples were all united with the " name " or 
 " life " of God, they would necessarily be one. All 
 drawing life from the same Source, life would in all 
 be the same. The phrase goes far beyond the sense 
 in which it is most frequently taken, far beyond 
 the idea of agreement or harmony of thought and 
 feeling (similarly vv. 22, 23). It is still the idea 
 of life that rules ; and what Jesus desires is that 
 through the disciples' union with God — being 
 "kept in" God — there shall be a oneness in the 
 essential nature of life and being in them all. 
 All of them shall possess the same spiritual reality, 
 something of the same spiritual substance, within. 
 The words "as we are" carry this implication, for 
 it is in this sense that Son and Father are one. 
 
St. John 213 
 
 12. I kept them in thy name. Once again, 
 ideally true. They had not allowed themselves to 
 be perfectly kept. But in so far as they had 
 entered into the divine revelation, it had been 
 through the direct influence of Jesus Himself. 
 
 the son of perdition. "Son of perishing." 
 The words are here applied individually to Judas 
 Iscariot ; but in 2 Thessalonians 2. 3 they are used 
 of the spirit in an impersonal and general sense. 
 
 that the scripture, etc See on 13. 18. 
 
 1 3. This is an echo of a word previously spoken 
 in the upper room (see 15. 11). 
 
 in the world. Not, as frequently (and as in 
 the next verse), ^^the world of evil," but simply 
 " while I am still on earth." 
 
 14. Compare 15. 18. Jesus states the position 
 between the disciples and the world, as it has been 
 and as it must be. It was to become yet more 
 true that the world hated them. 
 
 15. I pray not, etc. Although Jesus Himself 
 was about to be taken out of the world. He could 
 not ask that His disciples should go with Him. 
 They had still their earthly work to do, as He His 
 heavenly. 
 
 from the evil. The R.V. has the " evil one." 
 But as "from" really means "out of," the A.V. 
 probably gives the preferable rendering. 
 
 16. This gives the ground of the following 
 petition. Because they are not of the world, 
 therefore let them be "sanctified" or "conse- 
 crated " from above. 
 
 17. Sanctify them. Preferably "consecrate," 
 as given in R.V. margin. 
 
 through thy truth. Or, "in Thy truth." 
 Again something more than an intellectual con- 
 
214 Westminster New Testament 
 
 viction is intended ; and "^ in " for " through " 
 better brings this out. This life which is the 
 dominant element in Jesus' thought, is the eternal 
 and true line of life ordained by God for man. 
 (See on 1. 14 and 14. 7.) The supplication there- 
 fore means_, " Consecrate them to the life Thou 
 hast ordained and appointed for them." 
 
 thy word is truth. As revealing where that 
 eternally appointed line of life is to be found. 
 
 18. The greatness of the commission given to 
 the disciples here comes out. In conjunction with 
 the foregoing verse and the following one, this 
 verse offers the conception that they are to be 
 "sanctified" or "consecrated" in the true life, 
 the divine life, for its revelation to the world, just 
 as Jesus Himself was. They are to reproduce the 
 spiritual condition of being possessed, mastered by, 
 lost in, the life of God. 
 
 have I also sent them. Perhaps referring to 
 their commissioning as apostles (see Matthew 10. 4, 
 and the other Synoptics), but more generally to the 
 work which was about to devolve upon them after 
 their Master's death. 
 
 19. And for their sakes, etc. Through all 
 His earthly term, Jesus has maintained His own 
 perfect consecration to the mastery of the divine 
 life with a definite purpose that these disciples 
 should be similarly consecrated too. HeJias, in other 
 words, lived with the idea of founding a Church 
 which should represent Him when He was gone. 
 
 (C) 20-24. Jesus' Prayer for the Church. 
 
 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which 
 
 21 shall believe on me through their word; That they 
 all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I 
 
St. John 215 
 
 in thee, that they also may be one in us : that the 
 
 22 world may believe that thou hast sent me. And 
 the glory which thou gavest me I have given them ; 
 
 23 that they may be one, even as we are one : I in 
 them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect 
 in one ; and that the world may know that thou 
 hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast 
 
 24 loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou 
 hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they 
 may behold my glory, which thou hast given me : 
 for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the 
 world. 
 
 20. Jesus here has a vast forward look, seeing 
 the growing numbers of disciples to the end of 
 time. 
 
 21. that they all may be one. Again, some- 
 thing more than unity of feeling, something more 
 than love, is pointed to (see on v. 11). It is a 
 unity of the actual inward substance that makes 
 them. This is brought out more strongly, if 
 possible, in this verse than in v. 11. " As thou. 
 Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also 
 may be one in us." Clearly, no mere harmony 
 of thought, no mere sympathy in feeling, corre- 
 sponds to this. As there is an actual communion 
 of life between the Father and the Son, so is there 
 to be an actual communion of life between the 
 members of the Church and both these. 
 
 that the world may believe, etc. This 
 possession of a real divine life will be the supreme 
 proof of the reality of Christ's mission — far more 
 truly than any logical demonstration can ever be. 
 
 22. 23. And the glory, which thou gavest 
 me, etc. The Church is to take it as her supreme 
 honour thus to be " one," to share in a life common 
 
2i6 Westminster New Testament 
 
 to all her members. Jesus puts this honour upon 
 His Church, giving to her the " glory " which He 
 Himself possessed in His relation to God. To 
 share in the divine life through Christ was there- 
 fore no special privilege of the first disciples. It 
 should be the Church's distinguishing mark through 
 all the ages. Christianity is never to become a 
 mere speculative view of the world and of God's 
 relations to the world. It is to be always an actual 
 drawing of life from the Son, as the Son draws it 
 from the Father. 
 and that the world may know, etc. See on 
 
 v. 21. 
 
 24. Here Jesus has a glimpse into eternity, and 
 sees His Church at last gathered home, resting 
 with Him in the Father's unveiled presence. 
 
 I will. Jesus can thus declare His will, know- 
 ing that His will is one with God's. 
 
 that they may behold my glory, etc. At that 
 time of perfected redemption the redeemed will 
 with their own eyes see — and seeing, better under- 
 stand — the glory of oneness with God which Jesus 
 has always possessed, even before " the foundation 
 of the world." 
 
 (D) 25, 26. The Final Confidence. 
 
 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known 
 thee : but I have known thee, and these have 
 
 26 known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared 
 unto them thy name, and will declare it : that the 
 love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, 
 and I in them. 
 
 25. Looking back upon His whole ministry, 
 Jesus speaks with a sense of satisfaction. '' The 
 
St. John 217 
 
 world " has not recognised God in Him — but that 
 was to be expected. And " these " have made the 
 recognition. The great work — to be continued 
 through all the ages — has been at least begun. 
 
 26. and will declare it. Through the subse- 
 quent revelation of the Spirit. Compare I6. 11. 
 
 that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, 
 etc. At last the tone breaks into infinite tender- 
 ness, and the great word " love/' as descriptive of 
 this intercommunion of life among Father, Son, 
 and disciple, comes out once more. 
 
 and I in them. The sum and substance of it 
 all. "I in them" is the immediate method 
 whereby all these great prayers shall be fulfilled. 
 And the Christian's reply is in the Pauline phrase, 
 "To me to live is Christ." 
 
 Jesus, in this last word to His Father, sees how 
 His prayer will be answered (spite, alas ! of many 
 a failure and backsliding on His disciples' part) as 
 the years go on. He will still declare "Thy 
 name." The " love " which has subsisted l)e- 
 tween Father and Son will establish itself in the 
 disciples' hearts. And so at the end, Jesus, as it 
 were, whispers to the Father that all is well. 
 
 John 18. 1-14. 
 
 THE BETRAYAL AND THE ARREST. 
 
 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth 
 with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was 
 a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 
 
 2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the 
 place : for Jesus oft-times resorted thither with his 
 
 3 disciples. Judas then, having received a band of 
 
2i8 Westminster New Testament 
 
 men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, 
 Cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. 
 
 4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should 
 come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, 
 
 5 Whom seek ye ? They answered him, Jesus of 
 Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And 
 Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. 
 
 6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, 
 
 7 they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then 
 asked he them again. Whom seek ye ? And they 
 
 8 said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have 
 told you that I am he : if therefore ye seek me, 
 
 9 let these go their way : That the saying might be 
 fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thoit gavesi 
 
 10 me have I lost none. Then Simon Peter having a 
 sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, 
 and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was 
 
 11 Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy 
 sword into the sheath : the cup which my Father 
 
 12 hath given me, shall I not drink it ? Then the band 
 and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, 
 
 13 and bound him, And led him away to Annas first ; 
 for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was 
 
 14 the high priest that same year. Now Caiaphas was 
 he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was ex- 
 pedient that one man should die for the people. 
 
 The immediate purpose of John^ through these 
 final sections, is to contribute to the fulfilment of 
 his larger purpose by showing how entirely con- 
 sistent with the conception of Him as the Son of 
 God is Jesus' bearing in the last scenes. It must 
 be remembered that the effect of the whole history 
 is cumulative. Following upon all that has gone 
 before, the story of Jesus at His trial and in His 
 dying confirms the impression that He stood apart 
 
St. John 219 
 
 from the ordinary race of men. His bearing is 
 such as one miglit expect if all these foregoing 
 things which have been recorded of Him are true. 
 The spiritual grandeur He manifests is a thing 
 entirely unique. One does not feel towards this 
 Jesus as one would feel towards even a great man 
 similarly placed. One cannot^ for instance, pity 
 Him. The emotion of pity would be out of place. 
 One worships and adores. The story of His death 
 harmonises with and deepens the impression which 
 the story of His life has made. 
 
 John has in this chapter, also, the subsidiary 
 purpose of showing how the predictions of Jesus 
 regarding His betrayal by Judas and His denial 
 by Peter have been fulfilled. 
 
 1. Probably Jesus and His disciples were now 
 leaving the upper room. See on 14. 31. 
 
 the brook Cedron. Literally, " the black 
 stream." The bed is now dry, except in the 
 winter rains. There is, however, an underground 
 channel with water, as Dr. Barclay ascertained. 
 
 a garden. The other Evangelists call it merely 
 a place. Westcott conjectures, from the fact that 
 Jesus was often here (v. 2), that the owner may 
 have been a disciple. John does not record the 
 agony in Gethsemane. 
 
 2. This shows that Jesus made no attempt to 
 conceal Himself from the traitor and his allies. 
 
 3. a band of men. The margin of R.V. has 
 " cohort," but this would be six hundred men, 
 surely too large a number for the purpose in hand, 
 even if disturbance and attempt at rescue were 
 feared. Perhaps a band of the men stationed in 
 Antonia, the Roman castle overlooking the Temple, 
 is pointed to. 
 
220 Westminster New Testament 
 officers from the chief priests and 
 
 Pharisees. Members of the Temple body of 
 guards — Jewish officers, under the direct orders of 
 the Sanhedrin. 
 
 4, 5. Jesus goes forth to hasten the moment. 
 The last struggle is over : the angel has appeared 
 to Him, strengthening Him ; and with entire 
 voluntariness He makes the surrender of His 
 liberty and life. 
 
 6. Doubtless the majesty of Jesus overawed them. 
 
 7-9. Again Jesus presses on the decisive 
 moment. He is anxious now, besides, that, since 
 He is the object of arrest, the disciples shall not 
 be molested (v. 8). But of course the words 
 quoted by the Evangelist (v. 9) had a deeper and 
 more spiritual meaning than this. See 17. 12. 
 The present escape of the disciples was only 
 needed in order that as apostles they should not 
 be ^^ost." 
 
 10. Peter's impulsive courage found its oppor- 
 tunity. Of course this act might have led to his 
 own arrest or even to his death, so that Peter was 
 for the moment brave, as he had declared he would 
 be (13. 37). It was steadfastness that Peter lacked. 
 
 11. the cup which my Father hath given 
 me, etc. The words are an echo from those 
 spoken by Jesus in Gethsemane, as the other 
 Gospels record. 
 
 12. 13. to Annas first. This was a preliminary 
 to the regular examination before the Sanhedrin. 
 It was informal ; but it was natural, inasmuch as 
 Annas was a man of importance and influence. 
 He had been high priest from a.d. 7 to a.d. 14, and 
 was of great age. 
 
 14. See 11. 49-52. 
 
St. John 221 
 
 John i8. 15-27. 
 THE DENIALS BY PETER. 
 
 15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another 
 disciple : that disciple was known unto the high 
 priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of 
 
 16 the high priest. But Peter stood at the door with- 
 out. Then went out that other disciple, which 
 was known unto the high priest, and spake unto 
 
 17 her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. Then 
 saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, 
 Art not thou also one of this man's disciples ? He 
 
 18 saith, I am not. And the servants and officers 
 stood there, who had made a fire of coals ; for it 
 was cold : and they warmed themselves : and Peter 
 
 19 stood with them, and warmed himself. The high 
 priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his 
 
 20 doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spake openly 
 to the world ; I ever taught in the synagogue, and 
 in the temple, whither the Jews always resort ; and 
 
 21 in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou 
 me ? ask them which heard me, what I have said 
 
 22 unto them : behold, they know what I said. And 
 when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which 
 stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, 
 
 23 saying, Answerest thou the high priest so ? Jesus 
 answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness 
 of the evil : but if well, why smitest thou me ? 
 
 24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the 
 
 25 high priest. And Simon Peter stood and warmed 
 himself. They said therefore unto him. Art not thou 
 also one of his disciples ? He denied it, and said, I 
 
 26 am not. One of the servants of the high priest, being 
 his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith. Did not 
 
 27 I see thee in the garden with him ? Peter then 
 denied again : and immediately the cock crew. 
 
222 Westminster New Testament 
 
 In this section John pursues the secondary pur- 
 pose alhided to above, and records the fulfihiient 
 of Jesus' prediction that Peter should deny Him. 
 The narrative makes a subtle contrast with the 
 just-recorded impulsive attack on Malchus, and 
 thus reveals the precise nature of Peter's courage. 
 It was the courage of a heated moment, but did 
 not endure. 
 
 There has been some controversy as to whether 
 the examination before the "high priest," during 
 which Peter's denial was made, was the preliminary 
 examination before Annas pointed to in v. 13, or 
 whether Jesus had passed on to Caiaphas. It seems 
 most probable that the latter view should be taken. 
 For one thing, Caiaphas, not Annas, was entitled 
 to the name of "high priest," so that v. 19 would 
 indicate that Caiaphas was the questioner. More- 
 over, in V. 28 Jesus is led from Caiaphas to Pilate, 
 so that, on the other theory, we should have to 
 suppose that v. 24 is an indication of a transfer- 
 ence from Annas to Caiaphas (see on that verse). 
 But the whole narrative seems to show that from 
 v. 13 to V. 27 there is no shifting of the scene. 
 Peter, for instance, remains all the while before 
 the fire. Probably, therefore, the preliminary 
 examination by Annas is merely mentioned as 
 about to take place (v. 13), and John then passes 
 to the trial before Caiaphas and the S'anhedrin. 
 
 15, l6. Peter's mood had already changed. He 
 only followed afar off (Matthew 26. 58), and to 
 "see the end." And he only stood at the door, 
 while " another disciple " — John himself — went in. 
 John immediately afterwards took Peter into his 
 care, and brought him in (v. l6). 
 
 17. John's action in going in had shown him to 
 
St. John 
 
 be a disciple of the accused, and now Peter, being 
 in John's company, is supposed to be a follower 
 too. Hence " Art not thou also ? " 
 19- See introduction to section. 
 
 asked Jesus of his doctrine. With the view 
 
 of catching Him in His words, and finding ground 
 for a charge. 
 
 20, 21. According to rule, witnesses should be 
 heard before the prisoner was asked to speak, and 
 witnesses for the defence first of all. 
 
 24. Now Annas had sent, etc. If this could 
 
 stand, it would of course support the view above 
 maintained, that Annas had (close upon v. 13) 
 sent Jesus on to Caiaphas, and that all that has 
 just been recorded took place in Caiaphas' presence. 
 But the R.V. is undoubtedly right in translating 
 "sent" instead of "had sent." Nevertheless, the 
 whole interview is probably that with Caiaphas. 
 Very likely John has bethought himself that after 
 mentioning the leading to Annas, he has dropped 
 the actual interview between Jesus and Annas, 
 and accordingly inserts this verse to explain. Even 
 as it stands in R.V. it may be so taken. " All this 
 is set down because Annas sent Jesus to the high 
 priest, as I ought to have mentioned before." 
 
 25, 26. The further questioning of Peter was in 
 all probability brought about through the recogni- 
 tion of him, by some of the bystanders, in the 
 light of the fire. Hence " therefore " (v. 25). 
 And, curiosity once roused, the kinsman of Malchus 
 thought that he too recognised Peter as the 
 assailant in the garden. 
 
 27. John does not show things at their worst, 
 and suppresses the cursing and swearing which 
 is spoken of elsewhere. John's delicacy is note- 
 
224 Westminster New Testament 
 
 worthy. He has been forced, in v. 16, to draw 
 a comparison between himself and Peter, to the 
 latter' s disadvantage ; but he has not mentioned 
 his own name. 
 
 John 1 8. 28-40. 
 JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 
 
 28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of 
 judgment : and it was early ; and they themselves 
 went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be 
 defiled ; but that they might eat the passover. 
 
 29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said. What 
 
 30 accusation bring ye against this man ? They 
 answered and said unto him, If he were not a male- 
 factor, we would not have delivered him up unto 
 
 31 thee. Then said Pilate unto them. Take ye him, 
 and judge him according to your law. The Jews 
 therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put 
 
 32 any man to death : That the saying of Jesus might 
 be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death 
 
 ^2 he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judg- 
 ment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto 
 
 34 him. Art thou the King of the Jews ? Jesus an- 
 swered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or 
 
 35 did others tell it thee of me ? Pilate answered. 
 Am I a Jew ? Thine own nation and the chief 
 priests have delivered thee unto me : what hast 
 
 36 thou done ? Jesus answered. My kingdom is not 
 of this world : if my kingdom were of this world, 
 then would my servants fight, that I should not be 
 delivered to the Jews : but now is my kingdom not 
 
 37 from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art 
 thou a king then ? Jesus answered. Thou sayest 
 that I am a king. To this end was I born, and 
 
St. John 225 
 
 for this cause came T into the world, that I should 
 bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is 
 
 38 of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto 
 him, What is truth ? And when he had said this, he 
 went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I 
 
 39 find in him no fault at all. But ye have a custom, 
 that I should release unto you one at the passover : 
 will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of 
 
 40 the Jews ? Then cried they all again, saying. Not 
 this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a 
 robber. 
 
 We make a break at the end of the chapter, con- 
 cluding the present section there, because, although 
 Pilate's final decision is not actually taken at that 
 point, the regular and judicial dealing of Pilate 
 with the matter — so far as there was any such — 
 terminates at the chapter's close, and was passing 
 into that non-judicial treatment of the case into 
 which Pilate's indecision led him. 
 
 Pilate was Procurator of Judaea from a.d. 26 to 
 A.D. 36. Judaea had been placed under the im- 
 mediate government of Rome after the banishment 
 of Archelaus, and Pilate was directly responsible 
 to the Emperor. He was ultimately called to 
 Rome to answer for bad government, and his sub- 
 sequent history is unknown. 
 
 28. early. From three to six in the morning. 
 
 lest they should be defiled. By entering a 
 
 house from which all leaven had not been removed. 
 See Ex. 12. 15. 
 
 29. Pilate then went out. Meeting their 
 prejudices, as Rome was ready to do in religious 
 matters involving no political consequences, and 
 going to them, since they could not come to him, 
 in the hall. 
 
 15 
 
226 Westminster New Testament 
 
 30. The Jews were not prepared with an answer 
 to Pilate's inquiry. They had expected that he 
 would act on the decision of the Sanhedrin without 
 further examination^ as was frequently done. But, 
 the question once asked, the reply given was dis- 
 courteous, besides showing up the weakness of their 
 case. 
 
 31, 32. To hand Jesus back to the Jews was 
 virtually to save Him from death — unless, of 
 course, the Jews violated the law — for the 
 power of inflicting death had been taken away 
 from the Jewish authorities. The JeM^s remind 
 Pilate of this, though he doubtless knew it well 
 enough. 
 
 33. Art thou the King of the Jews? "Thou" 
 is emphatic — emphatic with contempt. Pilate must 
 have gathered from the language of the Jews out- 
 side that this phrase in some way pointed to the 
 charge against Jesus. 
 
 34, 35. Jesus asks in what sense Pilate intends 
 the question, for, if he puts it as Procurator, and 
 kingship carries only a political sense to his ears, 
 the answer will be "no." But if he asks it in 
 the sense in which the Jews know it ought to be 
 understood, the answer will be '^ yes." Speaking 
 again, Pilate flings away with contempt the idea 
 that he could have anything more than an official 
 care for the whole thing. And he cannot under- 
 stand why, if this man has claimed to be King of 
 the Jews, his own nation should have delivered 
 him up. Such a claim should surely have found 
 favour in the eyes of those who wanted to throw 
 off the yoke of Rome ! 
 
 86. Jesus expounds the idea of a spiritual king- 
 ship such as He came to establish. At any rate, 
 
St. John 227 
 
 there is no question of a revolt against Rome. The 
 kingdom is not of this world. 
 
 37. " Thou a king ? — thou ? " Mild scorn, per- 
 haps mixed with something of compassion^ is ex- 
 pressed. But Jesus, not desiring compassion, and 
 unheeding of scorn, reiterates plainly His claim to 
 kingship — to the kingship of the truth (see 1. 14 
 and 14. 6). 
 
 38. What is truth? Not spoken in jest, as is 
 sometimes supposed, but with a sort of despairing 
 conviction that truth is beyond the reach of men. 
 And so deep is this conviction in Pilate, that Jesus' 
 claim to be King of truth only makes him feel how 
 absurd the whole affair is. This must be only a 
 harmless dreamer or enthusiast. So Pilate goes 
 out to the people and declares that he can find no 
 fault in Jesus. 
 
 s^. But ye have a custom, etc. Nothing 
 is known of the custom other than what can 
 be gathered from Scripture allusions. Of course 
 Pilate's willingness to make Jesus the released 
 prisoner for this occasion shows that, although 
 convinced of His innocence, he w^ill treat Him 
 as guilty. Otherwise, he would have sent Him 
 acquitted from the judgment-hall. 
 
 40. Barabbas was a robber. Luke adds, a 
 murderer and an inciter to sedition (Luke 23. 19). 
 But though the people were accusing Jesus of 
 treason to Rome, they were willing to have Barab- 
 bas released, inconsistently ignoring the fact that 
 treason was among his crimes. 
 
228 Westminster New Testament 
 
 John xix. 
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH OF JESUS. \ 
 
 The entire restraint of the Evangelist while he 
 tells the story of Jesus' death is specially to be ' 
 noticed. Although writing with the specific pur- 
 pose of convincing his readers that Jesus was the 
 Son of God^ he writes in utter simplicity, not | 
 attempting to heighten the impression of the tale, i 
 or to quicken any emotions of horror and indigna- \ 
 tion, by the use of highly coloured phrases. The j 
 story is of course all the more impressive for this i 
 quietude. The bearing of the central Figure stands : 
 out all the more clearly by reason of the simplicity i 
 
 of John's speech. 
 
 i 
 
 (A) I-I6. Before the Crucifixion. j 
 
 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. I 
 
 2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put | 
 it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, ' 
 
 3 and said. Hail, King of the Jews ! and they smote 
 
 4 him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth 
 again, and saith unto them. Behold, I bring him I 
 forth to you, that ye may know that T find no fault - 
 
 5 in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown 
 
 of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith '' 
 
 6 unto them, Behold the man ! When the chief 
 priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried ■ 
 out, sa^dng. Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith 
 unto them. Take ye him, and crucify him : for I 
 
 7 find no fault in him. The Jews answered him. We j 
 have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because 
 
 8 he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate 
 therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid ; 
 
 9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith j 
 
St. John 229 
 
 unto Jesus, Whence art thou ? But Jesus gave 
 
 10 him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, 
 Speakest thou not unto me ? knowest thou not that 
 I have power to crucify thee, and have power to 
 
 11 release thee ? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have 
 no power at all against me, except it were given 
 thee from above : therefore he that delivered me 
 
 12 unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thence- 
 forth Pilate sought to release him : but the Jews 
 cried out, saying. If thou let this man go, thou art 
 not Caesar's friend : whosoever maketh himself a 
 
 13 king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate there- 
 fore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and 
 sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is 
 called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 
 
 14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and 
 about the sixth hour : and he saith unto the Jews, 
 
 15 Behold your King ! But they cried out, Away 
 with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate 
 saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King ? The 
 chief priests answered. We have no king but Caesar. 
 
 16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be 
 crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 
 
 Through this section John is specially engaged 
 in showing the struggle in Pilate's mind — the 
 conflict beween his conviction of Jesus' innocence 
 and his fear of the consequences to himself if he 
 acts as conscience dictates. 
 
 1. scourged him. Scourging was usually the 
 preliminary to crucifixion, but Pilate evidently 
 hoped that the spectacle of suffering would touch 
 the hearts of the Jews and induce them to relent. 
 
 2, 3. How far Pilate was from grasping the situa- 
 tion with a firm hand may be seen from the fact 
 that he allowed this mockery by the soldiers to go 
 
230 Westminster New Testament 
 
 on even while he was endeavouring to find a way 
 of setting Jesus free. The tenses in the original 
 indicate that the soldiers kept on with — frequently 
 repeated — their mock homage and their blows. 
 
 4, 5, Pilate shows Jesus to the crowd, hoping 
 that His manifest exhaustion after what He has 
 already gone through may stir their pity. 
 
 6. The sight, however, only rouses them to fresh 
 fury. It is not the crowd, be it noted, but the 
 chief priests and officers, that take the lead. 
 
 Take ye him, and crucify him. An out- 
 burst of petulant temper on Pilate's part. He 
 knew that the Jews could not lawfully do what he 
 suggested. 
 
 7. We have a law, etc. See Lev. 24. 16. 
 This charge was new to Pilate, not having been 
 brought forward before by the accusers. But it was, 
 of course, the real ground of the hatred felt towards 
 Jesus ; and it was true that Jesus had made this 
 claim. 
 
 8. 9. Pilate's increased fear came in part from 
 the feeling that, if this charge were substantiated, 
 Jesus could not escape, and in part from the 
 deepened consciousness of awe which he doubtless 
 felt in Jesus' presence, and which this new con- 
 ception might explain. He makes a fresh attempt, 
 accordingly, to get some definite avowal from 
 Jesus — something that may give him, as judge, an 
 indication of the line on which to act. Not that 
 he was ignorant of the right, but that he hoped 
 for something which would justify him in the eyes 
 of men. 
 
 10. Pilate's pride is hurt by the prisoner's 
 silence. 
 
 11. Jesus affirms that Pilate is but the uncon- 
 
St. John 231 
 
 scious agent in carrying out the eternal design. 
 Even Pilate's cowardice is made to work out the 
 will of God. And the "greater sin" lies on him 
 — Caiaphas probably is meant — who put Jesus 
 into Pilate's hands. For he sinned against fuller 
 light. 
 
 12. The Jew^s, seeing that Pilate is impressed, 
 and finding that the new charge they have brought 
 forward has not been enough to secure a verdict, 
 return to the first charge, the political one. And 
 it is put now in a form which brings Pilate into 
 new fear. The Emperor w^as known to be specially 
 ready to listen to accusations of lukewarmness 
 against his servants. 
 
 13. the Pavement. Josephus says that a part 
 of the Temple mount was laid with mosaic. It* was 
 probably here that Pilate sat. 
 
 14. 15. the preparation. That is, Friday— a 
 Friday of special character in this instance, since 
 the ensuing sabbath was the sabbath of the 
 Passover. 
 
 the sixth hour. That is, twelve o'clock. But 
 in Mark 15. 25 we are told that Jesus was crucified 
 at the third hour — that is, nine. Dr. Sanday thinks 
 that there has been an error in transcribing, and 
 supports Mark's version. It is possible, however, 
 that John simply means that it was getting on 
 toward the sixth hour — which, after the vague 
 Oriental fashion, might be said any time after nine, 
 since twelve was the next well-marked stage. So 
 Professor Ramsay. 
 
 Behold your King ! Pilate revenges himself 
 on the Jews who are forcing his hand. He finds 
 something of satisfaction in sarcasm like this. 
 
 We have no king but Caesar. An entire 
 
232 Westminster New Testament 
 
 repudiation of the national^ and of the Messianic, 
 ideal. So far had passion carried them. 
 
 (B) 17-37. The Crucifixion. 
 
 ly And he bearing his cross went forth into a place 
 called the place of a skull, which is called in the 
 
 1 8 Hebrew Golgotha : Where they crucified him, and 
 two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus 
 
 19 in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on 
 the cross. And the writing was, jesus of nazareth 
 
 20 THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of 
 the Jews : for the place where Jesus was crucified 
 was nigh to the city : and it was written in Hebrew, 
 
 21 and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests 
 of the Jews to Pilate, Write not. The King of the 
 Jews ; but that he said, T am King of the Jews. 
 
 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. 
 
 23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, 
 took his garments, and made four parts, to every 
 soldier a part ; and also his coat : now the coat was 
 without seam, woven from the top throughout. 
 
 24 They said therefore among themselves. Let us not 
 rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be : 
 that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith. 
 They parted my raiment among them, and for my 
 vesture they did cast lots. These things there- 
 
 25 fore the soldiers did. Now there stood by the cross 
 of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary 
 
 26 the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When 
 Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple 
 standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his 
 
 27 mother, Woman, behold thy son ! Then saith he 
 to the disciple. Behold thy mother ! And from that 
 hour that disciple took her unto his own home. 
 
 28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now 
 accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled. 
 
St. John 233 
 
 29 saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of 
 vinegar : and they filled a spunge with vinegar, 
 and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 
 
 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he 
 said, It is finished : and he bowed his head, and gave 
 
 31 up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was 
 the preparation, that the bodies should not remain 
 upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath 
 day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their 
 legs might be broken, and that they might be taken 
 
 32 away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the 
 legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified 
 
 5S with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw 
 that he was dead already, they brake not his legs : 
 
 34 but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, 
 and forthv/ith came there out blood and water. 
 
 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is 
 true : and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might 
 
 36 believe. For these things were done, that the scripture 
 should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 
 
 Sy And again another scripture saith, They shall look 
 on him whom they pierced. 
 
 17. bearing his cross. It was the custom for 
 the condemned criminal to carry his own cross. 
 The Synoptists, however^ record that the strength 
 of Jesus was soon exhausted, and that Simon of 
 Cyrene bore the cross for Him. 
 
 went forth. The place of execution was always 
 outside the city walls. 
 
 Golgotha. A hill of skull-like appearance 
 stands not far from the Damascus gate, and this is 
 usually identified as being the spot. 
 
 19-22. Pilate continues to take his revenge in 
 satire upon the Jews. The inscription, being in 
 three languages, would be legible by all comers. 
 
234 Westminster New Testament 
 
 23. also his coat. That is^ the garment worn next 
 to the skin. Usually, it was in two portions clasped 
 together, but the coat of Jesus was in one piece, 
 as Josephus tells us was that of the high priest. 
 
 24. See Ps. 22. 18. 
 
 25. It is somewhat doubtful whether " Mary the 
 wife of Cleophas " is explanatory of the foregoing 
 " his mother's sister," or whether it signifies a 
 separate person. If the foregoing, there would be 
 three women spoken of in the verse ; if the latter, 
 four. The objection to the first method of taking 
 it lies in the unlikelihood of the mother of Jesus 
 having a sister of similar name. Probably, there- 
 fore, '^ his mother's sister" and "Mary the wife of 
 Cleophas " are different persons ; and in this case 
 the former would be Salome, the mother of John 
 himself (see Matt. 27. 56, in which we find the 
 names of the women standing within view of the 
 cross). The "wife of Cleophas" probably corre- 
 sponds with the Mary, the mother of James and 
 Joses, mentioned in Matthew's passage. James 
 the son of Alphaeus is met with in Matt. 10. 3, 
 and Cleophas and Alphaeus are most likely different 
 renderings of the same name. 
 
 26. 27. John was henceforward to be a son to the 
 bereaved Mary, and she a mother to him. 
 
 from that hour, etc. If John immediately led 
 Mary away, he must have returned to the Cross 
 (see V. 35). 
 
 28. that the scripture might be fulfilled. 
 See Ps. 69. 21. 
 
 29. vinegar. The sour wine of the soldiers, 
 made from grapes that have been already pressed. 
 
 hyssop. Usually taken to mean a stalk of the 
 caper, which still grows near Jerusalem. The 
 
St. John 235 
 
 stalk is about three or four feet long, and thus the 
 lips of Jesus could be reached. 
 
 30. gave up the ghost. That is, completed 
 the voluntary surrender of His life. 
 
 31. The leaving of bodies exposed through the 
 night is forbidden in Deut. 21. 23. 
 
 that their legs might be broken. This was 
 a usual procedure in cases of crucifixion, with the 
 view of hastening the end when it was deemed 
 advisable to do so. 
 
 32-37. The Evangelist sees in the special treat- 
 ment which Jesus received a direct fulfilment of 
 two prophecies, the first one contained in Ex. 12. 46 
 and Ps. 34. 20, and the second in Zech. 12. 10. 
 
 blood and water. This would be accounted 
 for if, as Milligan supposes, the spear-wound was 
 inflicted at the instant of death. There have been 
 many other explanations. The subject is treated 
 in W. Stroud's book, The Physical Causes of the 
 Death of Christ, and has been still more success- 
 fully dealt with by Rev. S. Haughton, M.D. John 
 himself clearly thinks the occurrence extraordinary, 
 if not supernatural, as is shown by his insistence on 
 the fact that he saw (v. od). 
 
 (C) 38-42. The Burial of Jesus. 
 
 38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being 
 a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of 
 the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take 
 away the body of Jesus : and Pilate gave him 
 leave. He came therefore, and took the body of 
 
 39 Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, which 
 at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought 
 a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred 
 
 40 pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, 
 
236 Westminster New Testament 
 
 and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as 
 
 41 the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the 
 place where he was crucified there was a garden ; 
 and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was 
 
 42 never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus there- 
 fore because of the Jews' preparation day ; for the 
 sepulchre was nigh at hand. 
 
 38. Joseph of Arimathaea. For other refer- 
 ences to him see Matt. 27. 57, Mark 15. 4<3, and 
 Luke 23. 51. Arimathaea is sometimes identified 
 with Ramathaim Zophim, near Lydda, but this is 
 not certain. 
 
 Pilate gave him leave. Had Pilate thought 
 Jesus guilty^ he would not have allowed an honour- 
 able burial. 
 
 39. The hundred-pound weight brought by 
 Nicodemus represents a valuable offering. The 
 spices would cover not only the body, but also the 
 floor of the tomb. 
 
 40. linen clothes. Properly ^Minen cloths/' 
 as in R.V. — narrow strips or bands. Afterwards a 
 linen covering would be wrapped round the 
 whole. 
 
 42. therefore. Because it was so near. No 
 great amount of time would be consumed — and 
 time pressed, since the hour for partaking of the 
 Passover feast was close at hand. 
 
 John 20. i-io. 
 
 THE EMPTY TOMB. 
 
 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene 
 early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and 
 seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre 
 
St. John 237 
 
 2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, 
 and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and 
 saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord 
 out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they 
 
 3 have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and 
 that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 
 
 4 So they ran both together : and the other disciple 
 did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 
 
 5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the hnen 
 
 6 clothes lying ; yet went he not in. Then cometh 
 Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepul- 
 
 7 chre, and seeth the linen clothes he. And the napkin, 
 that was about his head, not lying with the linen 
 clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 
 
 8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came 
 first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and beheved. 
 
 9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must 
 10 rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went 
 
 away again unto their own home. 
 
 As in the story of the Crucifixion, so in the 
 account of the Resurrection — or rather, for the 
 actual act of resurrection itself is not recorded in 
 any of the Gospels, of what happened after the 
 Resurrection — we find an entire restraint, an 
 absolute absence of any straining after effect. 
 Though John has to tell of the greatest wonder of 
 the world, he writes as if feeling that a Resurrec- 
 tion was, as it were, a wholly natural thing in the 
 case of Jesus, a thing which anyone, remembering 
 all that had gone before, would naturally expect. 
 The Resurrection occupies a very important place, 
 of course, in the development of John's main 
 purpose. If Jesus had, as He claimed, life in 
 Himself — if no man took His life from Him, but 
 He voluntarily surrendered it — if the foregoing 
 
238 Westminster New Testament 
 
 history is to have its fitting close — it was not 
 possible that Jesus should be conquered by death. 
 Yet John does not, speaking strictly, attempt to 
 prove the Resurrection. He simply recounts some 
 events in connection with it, leaving them to work 
 their own effect. What he wishes his readers to 
 realise is that the whole thing fits in. The simple 
 narrative of these things forms part of the cumu- 
 lative proof — as distinct from a logical demonstra- 
 tion — which the Evangelist is building up, and 
 contributes its share to that impression, made up 
 of many causative elements, that here is the Son 
 of God. 
 
 1. Mary Magdalene. She had been one of 
 those near the Cross (19- 25). What Jesus had 
 done for her, and how He had drawn her, is told 
 in Luke 8. 2. 
 
 the stone taken away. John has not men- 
 tioned the placing of the stone. See Matt 27. QQ. 
 
 2. to Simon Peter. Evidently Peter, notwith- 
 standing his denial of Jesus, was still looked on as 
 the chief Apostle. 
 
 S-5. John, reaching the sepulchre first (he was 
 the younger man), did not enter. It was still dark 
 (v. 1), and probably he did not see the angels, if at 
 this moment they were there. Perhaps they were 
 not, since Peter, on going in, does not seem to have 
 seen them. 
 
 6, 7. seeth, etc. Saw, without understanding — 
 a different word from that translated " he saw " in 
 V. 8. Peter's impulsiveness took him into the 
 tomb, but did not enable him to grasp the sig- 
 nificance of its emptiness. 
 
 8. he saw. Saw to the heart of the matter. 
 See on previous verse. 
 
St. John 239 
 
 believed. John leapt out to grasp the fact of 
 the Resurrection. Peter, on the other hand, was 
 simply mystified (Luke 24. 12). 
 
 9. This verse explains why John's act of faith 
 had been delayed till now, and why Peter's was 
 not even now performed. The reference is to 
 Psalm 16, which is quoted as the proof passage in 
 Acts 2. 25-28. 
 
 10. There is no sign of any ecstasy or enthusiasm 
 on the part of the disciples — not even on the part 
 of John, who understood the most. The conditions 
 needed for such an invention of a Resurrection as 
 some critics tell us the disciples made are not 
 present. 
 
 John 20. 11-29. 
 SOME APPEARANCES OF JESUS. 
 
 Although, as stated just now, John is not 
 attempting a formal proof of the Resurrection, but 
 only recounting some of its incidents, yet he is 
 careful to insert in his narrative such points as will 
 serve to make the reality and greatness of the 
 miracle plain. So he mentions the shut door, and 
 the mysterious coming of Jesus through it, not 
 shrinking from the marvellous while not making 
 over much of it. And the ring of an eye-witness's 
 voice is heard all through. 
 
 (A) 11-18. To Mary Magdalene. 
 
 1 1 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping : 
 and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into 
 
 12 the sepulchre. And seeth two angels in white 
 sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, 
 
240 Westminster New Testament 
 
 13 where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say 
 unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? She saith 
 unto them, Because they have taken away my 
 Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 
 
 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, 
 and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was 
 
 15 Jesus. Jesus saith unto her. Woman, why weepest 
 thou ? whom seekest thou ? She, supposing liim to 
 be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have 
 borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, 
 
 16 and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, 
 Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, 
 
 17 Rabboni ; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith 
 unto her. Touch me not ; for I am not yet ascended 
 to my Father : but go to my brethren, and say unto 
 them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father ; 
 
 18 and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene 
 came and told the disciples that she had seen the 
 Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 
 
 IL Mary had left the sepulchre to tell Peter 
 that she had found it empty (v. 2), but had 
 evidently returned. 
 
 12. two angels in white sitting. This is one 
 of the points of difference between John and two 
 of the Synoptics, on which some critics strongly 
 insist. Matthew and Mark speak of only one 
 angel, although Luke mentions two. But the 
 obvious reply would seem to be that spiritual 
 presences may be discerned by some and not by 
 others. Moreover, any "reconciliation" on points 
 like this is quite unnecessary. 
 
 13. Mary is so possessed by her fixed idea that 
 the body of Jesus has been taken away, that she is 
 apparently not surprised at the angels addressing 
 her. 
 
St. John 241 
 
 14. knew not that it was Jesus. In part, 
 
 because she was not expecting Him. But it is 
 clear from the other narratives in this chapter that 
 the body of Jesus had undergone some change which 
 we cannot describe, and in this perhaps some change 
 of outward appearance may have been involved. 
 
 15. Mary is still possessed by her fixed idea. 
 
 16. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. Adopting 
 the familiar form of address, so as to waken re- 
 collection. And Mary answers in a way which 
 indicates that she has recognised Jesus. " Rabboni 
 means "my Master." But it does not imply a 
 recognition of Jesus' divineness. That had not 
 yet come. 
 
 17. Touch me not, etc. Better, "Do not 
 continue to cling." The meaning is that the time 
 for outward companionship, with any of its physical 
 contacts, is gone by ; while that spiritual " cling- 
 ing" which is to take its place is not even yet 
 fully possible, since Jesus is not yet " ascended " 
 to the Father. On the conception of spiritual 
 fellowship as depending on Jesus' return to the 
 Father, see the discourse in the upper room and 
 the intercessory prayer (chapters 13-17). 
 
 my brethren. Jesus has called His disciples 
 "friends" (15. 15), but not brethren before. He 
 comes the closer as the time for withdrawal into 
 heaven approaches. 
 
 (B) 19-25. To THE Discn^LEs, excepting 
 Thomas. 
 
 19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day 
 
 of the week, when the doors were shut where the 
 
 disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came 
 
 Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, 
 
 i6 
 
242 Westminster New Testament 
 
 20 Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he 
 shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then 
 were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 
 
 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you : 
 as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 
 
 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, 
 and saith unto them. Receive ye the Holy Ghost : 
 
 23 Whose soever sins ye remit; they are remitted unto 
 them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are 
 
 24 retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called 
 Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 
 
 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him. We have 
 seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I 
 shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put 
 my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my 
 hand into his side, I will not believe. 
 
 19, 20. when the doors were shut. This is 
 one of the tokens of something supernatural in the 
 appearance of Jesus (see also v. 26). The resurrec- 
 tion body, while real (v. 27), was not subject to 
 the ordinary laws governing material things. 
 Doubtless Jesus could at any time in His earthly 
 life have made Himself miraculously present ; but 
 the suggestion of this narrative is that the 
 resurrection body w\as in itself unique, and that for 
 the recorded entrance no miracle was, in con- 
 sequence, required. 
 
 21. Compare 17. 18. "As the Father hath sent 
 me," really implies that the Father was "keeping 
 on sending." The work of Jesus was not done. 
 
 22, 23. breathed on them. As if communi- 
 cating to them His own life — in harmony with 
 that conception of a self-communication of Jesus to 
 His disciples which has been the main burden of 
 the whole Gospel. The act was symbolic of the 
 
St. John 243 
 
 relation toward the disciples in which Jesus was 
 ever afterwards to stand. 
 Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The perfect 
 
 baptism of the Holy Spirit was to come later at 
 Pentecost. But the words give the result (as it 
 would be brought about) of a perfect reception of 
 that 'Mn-breathing " of Jesus which He has just 
 symbolised. The action and the words together 
 indicate the ideal condition to which the disciples 
 were meant to attain. 
 
 Whose soever sins ye remit, etc. The 
 meaning is that by the presence of the Holy Spirit 
 in them the disciples would be able unfailingly to 
 bring the grace of God in forgiveness home to 
 human hearts that were ready for it^ and to discern 
 unreadiness for that grace where unreadiness 
 dwelt. They would be equipped for a right and 
 true dealing with the souls of men. Much the 
 same words as those that Jesus uses here were 
 employed by the Jews at the appointment of a 
 scribe. But Jesus gives them a deeper meaning. 
 
 24. Thomas . . . was not with them. See 
 on 11. 16. Thomas ought to have been there. 
 But he had probably lost all hope, and felt that to 
 join the others would be of no avail. 
 
 25. The evidence adduced by the other disciples 
 was not sufficient for Thomas. He wanted to go 
 further. Yet Thomas was not the type of the 
 sceptic in the intellectual sense, as he is often 
 taken to be. He was one who had missed his 
 spiritual opportunities (he had been absent unwisely 
 when Jesus came), and had consequently come to feel 
 that notliing great could come into his experience. 
 His mood was rather one of despair tlian of 
 scepticism. See on v. 28. 
 
244 Westminster New Testament 
 
 (C) 26-29. To Thomas in the Presence of 
 
 THE OTHER DiSCIPLES. 
 
 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, 
 and Thomas with them : then came Jesus, the doors 
 being shut, and stood in the midst, and said. Peace 
 
 27 be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach 
 hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and reach 
 hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be 
 
 28 not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered 
 
 29 and said unto him, INIy Lord and my God. Jesus 
 saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, 
 thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not 
 seen, and yet have believed. 
 
 26. That Thomas was with them shows that 
 their words had had some effect, and goes to 
 show, also, that Thomas's doubt was not of the 
 purely intellectual sort. 
 
 27. Reach hither thy finger, etc. Jesus is 
 
 willing that Thomas shall have the evidence which 
 he demands. The fact that Jesus was willing to 
 be thus touched proves the reality of His physi- 
 cal body, whatever changes may have passed 
 upon it. 
 
 28. My Lord and my God. Thomas, the 
 doubter, makes the greatest confession of faith that 
 anyone has yet made. And he makes it, so far as 
 the narrative guides us in reconstructing the scene, 
 without doing those things which he had declared 
 necessary to convince him. 
 
 29. The faith of Thomas is nevertheless not the 
 highest. To believe without a perfect logical 
 demonstration is a more blessed thing ; for there is 
 implied a spiritual intuition, an altogether loftier 
 
St. John 245 
 
 spiritual condition, in those who have other sources 
 of proof than anything seen can afford. 
 
 John 20. 30, 31. 
 
 THE EVANGELIST'S STATEMENT OF HIS 
 PURPOSE. 
 
 30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence 
 of his disciples, which are not written in this book : 
 
 31 But these are written, that ye might beheve that 
 Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing 
 ye might have life through his name. 
 
 On the main purpose of the Gospel, see 
 Introduction, pp. 22-26. 
 
 30. And many other signs, etc. That is, 
 during the whole of His ministry, not merely after 
 His Resurrection. 
 
 31. believe. The word must be taken in the 
 sense in which it is nearly always used in the 
 Gospel. As we have repeatedly seen, it signifies a 
 self-abandonment of the disciple's nature to that 
 of Jesus, a self-identification of the disciple with 
 Jesus, not merely an intellectual acceptance of the 
 truth about Jesus. 
 
 that believing ye might have life. The 
 previously given interpretation of " believing " is 
 proved, by this clause, to have been necessary. 
 Only by believing in the sense indicated can life 
 be received. Only self-identification with Jesus 
 brings the life of Jesus into human hearts. This is 
 of course no arbitrary rule, but must in the nature 
 of things be so. 
 
 through his name. That is, through His 
 
246 Westminster New Testament 
 
 nature, through what He Himself is — thus pointing 
 again to self-abandonment to Jesus, identification 
 with Jesus, as the true meaning of " believe." 
 John's purpose in writing, therefore, as he declares 
 it here, was to bring about a movement of man's 
 nature into the nature of Jesus, so that the actual 
 life of Jesus might pass back into man. 
 
 John 21. 1-14. 
 
 THE APPEARANCE OF JESUS AT THE SEA 
 OF GALILEE. 
 
 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to 
 the disciples at the sea of Tiberias ; and on this wise 
 
 2 shewed he himself. There were together Simon 
 Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael 
 of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two 
 
 3 other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, 
 I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with 
 thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship 
 immediately ; and that night they caught nothing. 
 
 4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood 
 on the shore : but the disciples knew not that it 
 
 5 was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them. Children, 
 have ye any meat ? They answered him, No. 
 
 6 And he said unto them. Cast the net on the right 
 side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast there- 
 fore, and now they were not able to draw it for the 
 
 7 multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom 
 Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now 
 when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he 
 girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and 
 
 8 did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples 
 came in a little ship ; (for they were not far from 
 
St. John 247 
 
 land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging 
 
 9 the net mth fishes. As soon then as they were come 
 
 to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid 
 
 10 thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them. Bring 
 
 11 of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon 
 Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of 
 great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three : and for 
 all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 
 
 12 Jesus saith unto them. Come and dine. And none 
 of the disciples durst ask him. Who art thou ? know- 
 
 13 ing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and 
 taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 
 
 14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself 
 to his disciples, after that he was risen from the 
 dead. 
 
 The Gospel was originally intended to close 
 at the end of the twentieth chapter^ as is evident 
 from the style of 20. SO, 31. Moreover, the great 
 confession of Thomas M^ould form a fitting and 
 natural climax to all that has gone before. It is 
 impossible to do more than conjecture the reason 
 of the subsequent addition. It has been suggested 
 that some of John's disciples may have desired 
 further information concerning the happenings in 
 the forty days after the Resurrection. This is a quite 
 plausible conjecture. It seems still more probable, 
 however, that the reason for the addition lies in 
 the desire of the writer, on further reflection, to 
 set down the events recorded in 21. 15-19- The 
 possible motive for desiring to record these events 
 will be dealt with in the preliminaries to the next 
 section. But, assuming that such a desire sprang 
 up in the writer's mind, it is natural that he should 
 record the whole history of the day on which the 
 conversation between Jesus and Peter took place. 
 
248 Westminster New Testament 
 
 The chapter, as a whole, finds its raison d'etre, on 
 this view, in that conversation ; and the previous 
 verses (1-14), while in themselves of importance as 
 giving information concerning another appearance 
 of the risen Lord, are in a manner preliminary 
 to the carrying out of the chief purpose. 
 
 As to the genuineness of the chapter, there 
 is hardly room for doubt — that is, by those who 
 accept the Gospel as a whole. It is found in all the 
 manuscripts. Moreover, there are minute resem- 
 blances of method and style which show that the 
 chapter came from the same hand as the rest of the 
 Gospel. Such are the mention of '^ Thomas called 
 Didymus " (v. 2), an expression which is found 
 twice previously in this book, and not elsewhere in 
 the New Testament — the use of the word translated 
 " caught " in v. 3, which occurs seven times in 
 John, and not in the other three Evangelists — and 
 various similar points (see v. 2). There is the 
 same attention to detail. The same connecting 
 particles are employed. The chapter undoubtedly 
 belongs to the Gospel as it came from the Apostle's 
 pen. 
 
 1. After these things. No definite time is 
 pointed to (see, for a similar usage, 6. l). 
 
 shewed himself. The word really means 
 •^^ revealed Himself" — that is, "shewed what He 
 was," His divineness. The R.V. translates " mani- 
 fested himself" 
 
 the sea of Tiberias. See Introduction, p. 18, 
 and 6. 1. The disciples had returned to Galilee 
 (see Matt. 28. 7 and 16). 
 
 2. Thomas called Didymus. See above. 
 two other of his disciples. Probably not 
 
 belonging to the apostolic band. 
 
St. John 249 
 
 Nathanael of Cana in Galilee. This is 
 
 another point marking a common authorship with 
 the rest of the Gospel. Nathanael is mentioned 
 only by John under that name (see on 1. 45). 
 
 o. Peter's abruptness perhaps resulted from a 
 futile consideration and discussion among the 
 disciples as to what the next step should be. He 
 falls back upon his ordinary occupation, and the 
 rest of them follow his example. 
 
 they caught nothing. See above. But the 
 night was the best time for fishing, which heightens 
 the wonder of what |took place when the morning 
 came. 
 
 4. But when the morning, etc. Better, as in 
 
 R.V., '^ when day was now breaking." It was still 
 dim dawn, and hence perhaps the failure on 
 the part of the disciples to recognise Jesus. 
 
 5. Children. The word so translated means 
 properly, " boys." It is not the affectionate word 
 similarly rendered at 13. 33. As they do not 
 recognise Him, Jesus speaks to them as a stranger 
 might. 
 
 6. The verse points clearly to a miracle. At 
 first, before the casting of the net, possibly the 
 disciples merely supposed that the stranger had 
 seen something which made him imagine that some 
 fish might be caught. But the greatness of the 
 resulting catch indicated much more than this. 
 And the effect produced on John (v. 7) shows that 
 it was recognised as miraculous. 
 
 7. Only John, however, whose nature, since he 
 " believed " in the fuller sense implied in 20. 8, 
 had doubtless been in a condition of greater 
 spiritual sensitiveness and insight than that of the 
 others', leapt to the conclusion that this must be 
 
250 Westminster New Testament 
 
 Jesus. Yet one can only wonder at the dulness of 
 the rest. There had surely been enough to make 
 them spiritually alert. Peter's impulsiveness^ how- 
 ever, again comes into play, and causes him to leap 
 into the sea. 
 
 girt his fisher's coat unto him. Out of 
 reverence for Jesus. The word rendered " coat " 
 is a different one from that similarly translated at 
 19. 23. Here it denotes an outer garment. 
 
 8. a little ship. Properly " the " little ship — 
 the little boat carried on the larger vessel spoken 
 of in V. 3. 
 
 two hundred cubits. A hundred yards, 
 approximately. 
 
 9, 10. The fire and fish and bread had perhaps 
 been left ready by the disciples against their 
 return. There is no need to assume a miracle 
 in order to account for their presence. But the 
 fish recently caught (v. 10) would necessarily be 
 fresher. 
 
 11. went up. That is, went on board. He 
 had left the ship before the others (v. 7). 
 
 an hundred and fifty and three. Among 
 the curiosities of interpretation is one which sees 
 in the number of fishes a symbol of the number of 
 nations to whom the Gospel was to be preached. 
 
 12, 13. And none of the disciples durst ask 
 him, etc. Awe restrained them from anything 
 like familiar speech. But Jesus takes the initiative 
 in friendliness (v. 13), and serves them. 
 
 14. This is now the third time, etc. Meaning, 
 the third time to the disciples collectively. John 
 himself has recorded three manifestations previous 
 to this, and others are given in the synoptic 
 accounts. 
 
St. John 251 
 
 John 21. 15-23. 
 THE RESTORATION OF PETER. 
 
 15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, 
 Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than 
 these ? He saith unto liim, Yea, Lord ; thou 
 knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed 
 
 16 my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, 
 Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? He saith 
 unto him. Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee. 
 
 17 He saith unto him. Feed my sheep. He saith unto 
 him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou 
 me ? Peter was grieved because he said unto him 
 the third time, Lovest thou me ? And he said unto 
 him. Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest 
 that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him. Feed my 
 
 18 sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. When thou 
 wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst 
 whither thou wouldest : but when thou shalt be old, 
 thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another 
 shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest 
 
 19 not. This spake he, signifying by what death 
 he should glorify God. And when he had spoken 
 
 20 this, he saith unto him. Follow me. Then Peter, 
 turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved 
 following ; which also leaned on his breast at supper, 
 and said. Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee ? 
 
 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall 
 
 22 this man do ? Jesus saith unto him. If I will that 
 he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? follow 
 
 23 thou me. Then went this saying abroad among 
 the brethren, that that disciple should not die : 
 yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die ; but, 
 If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to 
 thee ? 
 
252 Westminster New Testament 
 
 It was suggested that this section forms the 
 raison d'etre of the entire chapter. John probably 
 remembered how at the beginning of his Gospel 
 he recorded the prediction of Jesus concerning 
 Simon (1. 42). Yet he has also had to record how 
 this disciple, w^ho had been pointed to in that 
 prediction as a "rock/' had denied the Master. 
 Had the prediction then gone for naught? To 
 show how, notwithstanding Peter's fall, Jesus still 
 meant His prophecy to be fulfilled, John sets 
 down the scene of forgiveness and restoration. 
 Peter still holds his apostolic commission — has it 
 restored to him with added emphasis in this inter- 
 view. And, as if for the crowning honour, it is 
 foretold how by martyrdom the Apostle who 
 denied shall at last glorify God. 
 
 15. Simon, son of Jonas. Since Peter had 
 come to be the Apostle's common designation, 
 John always uses it himself when speaking of his 
 colleague in the band. But he never represents 
 Jesus as doing so — and this title, standing here, 
 accordingly affords another token that this chapter 
 comes from John's own hand. 
 
 lovest thou me ? John employs a word signify- 
 inga loveof great depth and overmastering intensity. 
 
 more than these ? Pointing to Peter's boast, 
 recorded in 13. 37 and in a more pronounced form 
 in Matt. 26. 83. 
 
 thou knowest that I love thee. "Thou" is 
 
 emphatic. " Although others might justly conclude 
 differently. Thou knowest." But Peter does not 
 use the same word as Jesus for " love." It signifies 
 a humbler affection, the affection of friendship rather 
 than of consuming zeal. This is all that Peter dares 
 now to claim. 
 
St. John 253 
 
 Feed my lambs. Peter's commission, in this 
 first statement of it, is to care for the younger 
 members of the flock (whether young in years or 
 in experience), for whom elementary instruction is 
 requisite. 
 
 16. Jesus repeats His question, leaving out, 
 however, the reminder of Peter's boast that he 
 would excel others in his faithfulness. 
 
 Feed my sheep. Here the commission should 
 run, as in R.V., "Tend my sheep." Thus Peter's 
 commission is enlarged. Though he has not 
 properly guarded himself, yet he is restored to 
 the office of guarding, governing, and directing 
 the flock. For "tend" is a greater word than 
 "feed." 
 
 17. The third putting of the question doubtless 
 recalled the threefold denial, and thus touched 
 Peter to the quick. And this time Jesus employs, 
 in "lovest thou me ? " not His own previously used 
 word, but the less warm word which Peter has 
 employed. Peter would thus be moved to feel, 
 " Is even this less enthusiastic love doubted by my 
 Master?" And hence his more emphatic, and 
 yet pathetic, asseveration, " Thou knowest all 
 things," etc., "Surely Thou dost not doubt even 
 this ! " 
 
 Feed my sheep. Thus completing the com- 
 mission given into Peter's hands. To "tend" the 
 flock has just been allotted him (v. 17), to "feed" 
 the lambs was the first call, and now this office of 
 feeding is extended to cover the whole flock. He 
 has to feed, as well as to tend, not only the younger 
 members of the Christian band, but all. And the 
 greatness of the commission marks the complete- 
 ness of Peter's restoration to the favour of his Lord. 
 
254 Westminster New Testament 
 
 18, 19. The prophecy of v. 18 has a double 
 meamng. It refers, in the first instance, to what 
 will happen in Peter's old age, when his present 
 energy and impulsiveness are spent. But the 
 principal implication is that on which John himself 
 insists in v. 19. The expressions in v. 18 are 
 symbolic of the death by crucifixion which is here 
 foretold, and which Peter is traditionally said to 
 have suffered. The " girding " refers to the 
 fastening of the body, and the "stretching forth" 
 of the hands to their position, on the cross. But 
 there is no certain knowledge as to when the 
 prophecy was fulfilled, although tradition says that 
 Peter died in the Neronian persecution in the 
 year 64. Origen adds that he requested to be 
 crucified head downwards. 
 
 Follow me. There is probably a reference 
 to Peter's profession in 13. 37, and the words 
 would thus refer to the spiritual following which 
 lay before Peter. But it is evident from v. 20 that 
 Jesus and Peter drew apart from the rest. 
 
 20, 21. John, being a close associate of Peter, and 
 moreover the ''^discipje whom Jesus loved," would 
 feel privileged to join in the private conversation. 
 
 what shall this man do ? Peter is somewhat 
 presumptuous in his questioning — so soon after 
 the scene just recorded ? Since John and Peter 
 were closely linked together, however, the inquiry 
 is natural. 
 
 22. The reply of Jesus is in the nature of a mild 
 rebuke. Let Peter devote Iiimself to that follow- 
 ing for which he formerly professed Iiimself ready, 
 and to which he has just now been freshly called, 
 leaving other things to the decision of Jesus. 
 
 23. Perhaps at the time when John was writing 
 
St. John 255 
 
 in his old age, some may still have been under the 
 mistaken idea here spoken of. And the Apostle 
 endeavours, by this verse, to prepare them for his 
 departure. 
 
 John 21. 24, 25. 
 AN ADDENDUM TO THE GOSPEL. 
 
 24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, 
 and wrote these things : and we know that his 
 
 25 testimony is true. And there are also many other 
 things which Jesus did, the which, if they should 
 be written every one, I suppose that even the world 
 itself could not contain the books that should be 
 written. Amen. 
 
 These two verses are evidently an addition by 
 another hand. They ai-e found in every extant 
 manuscript (except that v. 25 is wanting in the 
 Sinaitic MS.). But the use of the pronoun " we " 
 in V. 24' points to the passage being an attestation 
 of the Gospel, a public sealing of its apostolic 
 authorship and its truth, by some persons whose 
 attestation would carry weight. They may have 
 been elders of the Ephesian Church. The phrase 
 about the world not being able to contain the 
 books that should be written if the full story of 
 Jesus were told, is a figure of speech quite unlike 
 John's style. 
 
 24. the disciple which testifieth. The words 
 ring as if John were still living. 
 
 25. many other things, etc. The reference is 
 to the whole body of oral tradition concerning Jesus 
 which was the possession of the early Church. 
 This IS not all recorded in the Synoptics. 
 
INDEX 
 
 ^non, 17. 
 
 Ainun, 65. 
 
 Alogi, the, 12, 13. 
 
 Alphaeus, 234. 
 
 Andrew, 45, 161. 
 
 Annas, 220-223. 
 
 Antonia, 219. 
 
 Arimathaea, 236. 
 
 'Askar, 71. 
 
 Authorship of the Gospel, 1-22. 
 
 Barabbas, 227. 
 Barclay, Dr., 219. 
 Barnabas, Epistle of, 10. 
 Bartholomew, 47. 
 Basilides, 10. 
 Bethabara, 40, 41. 
 Bethany, 40, 41. 
 Bethany (town of Lazarus), 
 
 146, 155- 
 Bethesda, 80. 
 Bethsaida, 17, 47. 
 Birket Silwan, 126. 
 Brethren of Jesus, 100-103. 
 Bretschneider, 207. 
 
 Caiaphas, 154, 222, 223. 
 Cana, 51. 
 
 17 
 
 Capernaum, 54, 55, 76. 
 Cedron, the brook, 219. 
 Cerinthus, 13, 23, 24.^ 
 Chwolson, 169. 
 Claim concerning its own 
 
 authorship, the Gospel's, 
 
 3-8. 
 Clement of Alexandria, ii. 
 Cleophas, 234. 
 Crucifixion, date of, 168, 169. 
 
 Dedication, Feast of, 139-144. 
 Delff, Dr., 5. 
 Diatessaron, 10. 
 Didache, 9. 
 Didymus, 148. 
 
 Dionysius of Alexandria, 6, 7' 
 Drummond, Dr., 2, 7, 9, 
 13. 
 
 Ebionitism, 24. 
 
 Edersheim, 126. 
 
 El Azeriyeh (Bethany), 146. 
 
 El Taiyibeh (Ephraim), 154. 
 
 Ephraim, 154. 
 
 Eusebius, 6, 11. 
 
 Evanson, 8. 
 
 External evidence, the, 8-15. 
 
258 
 
 Index 
 
 Galilee, Sea of, i8. 
 
 Georgius Hamartolus, 13, 14. 
 
 Gerizim, 72. 
 
 Gnosticism, 23, 24. 
 
 Godet, 169. 
 
 Golgotha, 233. 
 
 Greeks, seeking Jesus, 16 1. 
 
 Harnack, 5, 14. 
 Haughton, Dr., 235. 
 Hippolytus, 10. 
 Hofmann, 169. 
 
 Ignatius, lo. 
 
 Internal evidence, the, 15-19. 
 
 Irenaeus, 6, 9, lo. 
 
 Jerome, 7. 
 
 John, Gospel of, authorship, 
 
 1-22. 
 John, Gospel of, its divisions, 
 
 29, 30. 
 John, Gospel of, its purpose, 
 
 22-26. 
 John, Gospel of, its relation 
 
 to the Synoptists, 20, 5^ . 
 John, Gospel of, Logos 
 
 Doctrine in, 26-29. 
 John the Baptist, 34, 37-43^ 
 
 45, 63-67, 144. 
 John the disciple whom Jesus 
 
 loved, 3-8, 174, 222, 234, 
 
 238, 239, 249, 254, 255. 
 John the Presbyter, 4-7. 
 Joseph of Arimathaea, 165, 
 
 236. 
 Josephus, 51, 231. 
 Judas Iscariot, 157, 169, 173- 
 
 175- 
 Judas (Lebbaeus), 183. 
 Justin Martyr, 10. 
 
 Kana el Jehl, 51. 
 
 Kefr Kenna, 51. 
 Khan Minyeh, 55. 
 
 Langen, 169. 
 
 Lazarus, 144-152, 
 
 Logos Doctrine, the, 26-29. 
 
 Malchus, 222. 
 McClymont, Dr., 144. 
 Martha, 150. 
 Mary, 50-52. 
 
 Mary, wife of Cleophas, 234. 
 Mary Magdalene, 236-241. 
 Mary of Bethany, 150, 157. 
 Merril, Dr., 48. 
 Milligan, Dr., 235. 
 Muratorian Fragment, 9, 11. 
 
 Nablous, 71. 
 
 Nathanael, 47-49, 51, 249. 
 Nazareth, 48. 
 
 Nicodemus, 57-63, iii, 129, 
 165. 
 
 Olives, Mount of, 112. 
 Origen, 254. 
 
 Papias, 6, 14, 15. 
 Pavement, the, 231. 
 Peter, 46, 47, 100, 170, 176, 
 221-224, 238,^239, 251-254. 
 Philip, 47, 89, 161, 180. 
 Philo of Alexandria, 27. 
 Pilate, 224-233. 
 Polycarp, 9, 10. 
 Prologue, the, 32. 
 Purifying, regulations for, 
 
 17- 
 Purim, Feast of, 79- 
 
 Ramathaim Zophim (Arima- 
 thaea), 236. 
 Ramsay, Professor, 231. 
 
Index 
 
 259 
 
 Sadducees, the, 153. 
 
 Salome, 234. 
 
 Samaria, 70, 71, 
 
 Samaritan (Shomron), 122. 
 
 Sanday, Dr., 169, 231. 
 
 Shechem, 71. 
 
 Siloam, pool of, 108, 126. 
 
 Simon the leper, 156, 157. 
 
 Solomon's porch, 141. 
 
 Stroud, W., 235. 
 
 Supper, the Last, time of, 
 
 168, 169. 
 Sychar, 71. 
 Synoptists, relation between 
 
 them and Fourth Gospel, 20, 
 
 54- 
 
 Tabernacles, P'east of, 10 1- 
 103, 108, 109, 115. 
 
 Tatian, 10. 
 Tell Hum, 55. 
 Temple, the, 17, 53-56. 
 Theophilus of Antioch, 8, 
 
 II. 
 Tholuck, 169. 
 Thomas, 148, 179, 243-245, 
 
 248. 
 Tiberias, Sea of, 18. 
 Treasury, the, 116. 
 
 Valentinus, 10. 
 
 Wellhausen, 88. 
 Westcott, 132, 141, 219. 
 Whyte, Dr., 123. 
 Work, Professor, 23. 
 
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