Parable of ST. JOHN. d 40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him, heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also ? having seen Jesus before, but simply knowing that a person of that name had opened his eyes; he had only considered him as a holy man and a prophet: but now that he sees and hears him, he is convinced of his divinity, and glorifies him as his Saviour. We may hear much of Jesus, but can never know his glories and excellencies, till he has discovered him self to our hearts by his own Spirit; then we believe on him, trust him with our souls, and trust in him for our salvation. The word κύριε has two meanings: it signifies Lord, or Sovereign Ruler, and Sir, a title of civil respect. In the latter sense it seems evidently used in the 36th verse; because the poor man did not then know that Jesus was the Messiah: in the former sense it is used in this verse; now the healed man knew the quality of his benefactor. 39. For judgment I am come] I am come to manifest and execute the just judgment of God. 1. By giving sight to the blind, and light to the Gentiles, who sit in darkness. 2. By removing the true light from those who, pretending to make a proper use of it, only abuse the mercy of God. In a word, salvation shall be taken away from the Jews, because they reject it; and the kingdom of God shall be given to the Gentiles. 40. Are we blind also?] These Pharisees understood Christ as speaking of blindness in a spiritual sense; and wished to know if he considered them in that state. 41. If ye were blind] If ye had not had sufficient opportunities to have acquainted yourselves with my divine nature, by the unparalleled miracles which I have wrought before you, and the holy doctrine which I have preached; then your rejecting me could not be imputed to you as sin: but because ye say, we see-we are perfectly capable of judging between a true and false prophet, and can from the Scriptures point out the Messiah by his works; on this account you are guilty: and your sin is of no common nature, it remaineth, i. e. it shall not be expiated: as ye have rejected the Lord from being your deliverer, so the Lord has rejected you from being his people. When the Scripture speaks of sin remaining, it is always put the sheepfold in opposition to pardon: for pardon is termed the taking 1. The history of the man who was born blind and cured by 2. It has already been remarked, that since the world began, there is no evidence that any man born blind, was ever restored to sight by surgical means, till the days of Mr. Cheselden, who was a celebrated surgeon at St. Thomas's Hospital, London. believe that both the Greek and Roman physicians performed For though, even before the Christian era, there is reason to operations to remove blindness occasioned by the cataract, yet we know of none of these ever attempted on the eyes of those who had been born blind: much less of any such persons being restored to sight. The cure before us must have been wholly miraculous; no appropriate means were used to effect it. What was done, had rather a tendency to prevent and destroy sight, than to help or restore it. The blindness in question was probably occasioned by a morbid structure of the organs of sight; and our Lord, by his sovereign power, instantaneously restored them to perfect soundness, without the intervention of any healing process. In this case there could be neither deception nor collusion. Our Lord introduces this discourse in a most solemn manner, verily, verily, amen! amen! it is true, it is true! a Hebraism for, this is a most important and interesting truth; a truth of the utmost concern to mankind. At all times our Lord speaks what is infallibly true; but when he delivers any trath with this particular asseveration, it is either, 1. Because they are of greater importance; or, 2. Because the mind of man is more averse from them; or, 3. Because the small number of those who will practise them may render them incredible. Quesnel. He that entereth not by the door] Christ assures us, ver. 7. that he is the door; whoever therefore, enters not by Jesus Christ, into the pastoral office, is no other than a thief and a robber in the sheepfold. And he enters not by Jesus Christ, who enters with a prospect of any other interest besides that by the door is the shepherd of the 3 To him the porter openen; and the sheep hear his voice: b Psa. 110.4. Matt. 7.15. Acts 20.28.-c Isa. 43.1. Matt. 25.34, 41. Acts 20. 31. of Christ and his people. Ambition, avarice, love of ease, a desire to enjoy the conveniences of life, to be distinguished from the crowd, to promote the interests of one's family, and even the sole design of providing against want; these are all ways by which thieves and robbers enter. And whoever enters by any of these ways, or by simony, craft, solicitation, family, are innocent, yea laudable in a secular business; but &c. deserves no better name. Acting through motives of selfinterest, and with the desire of providing for himself and his to enter into the ministerial office through motives of this kinds, is highly criminal before God. 2. He that entereth in by the door] Observe here the marks, qualities, and duties of a good pastor: The first mark is, that he has a lawful entrance into the ministry by the internal call of Christ, namely, by an impulse proceeding from his Spirit, upon considerations which respect only his glory; and upon motives which aim at nothing but the good of his church, the salvation of souls, the doing the will of God, and the sacrificing himself entirely to his service, and to that of the meanest of his flock. 3. To him the porter openeth] Sir Isaac Newton observes, that our Lord being near the temple where sheep were kept in folds to be sold for sacrifices, spoke many things parabolically of sheep, of their shepherds, and of the door to the sheepfold; and discovers that he alluded to the sheepfolds which were to be hired in the market-place, by speaking of such himself open, but a porter opened to the shepherd. In the folds as a thief could not enter by the door, nor the shepherd porter opening the door to the true shepherd, we may discover the second mark of a true minister-his labour is crowned with success. The Holy Spirit opens his way into the hearts of his hearers, and he becomes the instrument of their salvation. See Col. iv. 3. 2 Cor. ii. 12. 1 Cor. xvi. 9. Rev. iii. 8. The sheep hear nis voice] A third mark of a good shepherd is, that he speaks so as to instruct the people the sheep hear fice. No; himself preaches Christ Jesus the Lord, and His voice; he does not take the fat and the fleece, and leave another hireling on less pay to do the work of the pastoral ofsimplicity too that is best calculated to instruct the common people. A man who preaches in such a language as the people cannot comprehend, may do for a stage-player or a mounte bank, but not for a minister of Christ. He calleth his own sheep by name] A fourth mark of a good and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. 5 Anda stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you. I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 42578. Jer. 17.16. Matt. 25. 32-e Gal. 1.8. 1 Thess. 5. 21. Ezek. 20. 49.Ch. 146. Eph 2.19 shepherds and teachers, &c. 961 am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11h I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sleep. 12 But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and i leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. h Isa. 40. 11. Ezek. 34. 12, 23. & 37. 24. Hebrews 13. 20. 1F Mer 2. 25. & 5.4. i Zech. 11.16, 17. which respect they are always robbers, since they rob the grace of Christ of the glory of saving the sheep. God often puts such pastors to shame, by not opening the hearts of the people to receive their word: while he blesses those who are humble, in causing them to be heard with attention, and ac pestor is, that he is well acquainted with his flock; he knows them by name; he takes care to acquaint himself with the spiritual states of all those that are entrusted to him. He speaks to them concerning their souls; and thus getting a thorough knowledge of their state, he is the better qualified to profit them by his public ministrations. He who has not a proper accompanying their preaching with an unction which converts quaintance with the church of Christ, can never, by his preaching, build it up in its most holy faith. And leadeth them out.) A fifth mark of a good shepherd is, he leads the flock, does not lord it over God's heritage; nor attempt by any rigorous discipline, not founded on the Gospel of Christ, to drive men into the way of life; nor drive them out of it, which many do, by a severity which is a disgrace to the mild Gospel of the God of peace and love. He leads them out of themselves to Christ, out of the follies, Eversions, and amusements of the world, into the path of Christian holiness: in a word, he leads them by those gentle, yet powerful persuasions, that flow from a heart full of the word and love of Christ, into the kingdom and glory of his God. 4. He goeth before them] A sixth mark of a true pastor is, he gives them a good example: he not only preaches, but he lives the truth of the Gospel; he enters into the depths of the salvation of God, and having thus explored the path, he knows how to lead those who are entrusted to his care, into the full ness of the blessings of the Gospel of peace. He who does not endeavour to realize in his own soul the truths which he preaches to others, will soon be a salt without its savour; his preaching cannot be accompanied with that unction, which alone can make it acceptable and profitable to those whose hearts are right with God. The minister who is in this state of salvation, the sheep, genuine Christians, will follow, for they know his voice. It was the custom in the eastern countries for the shepherd to go at the head of his sheep, and they fol. losced him from pasture to pasture. I have seen many hundreds of sheep thus following their shepherd on the extensive downs in the western parts of England. 5. And a stranger will they not follow] That is, a man, who pretending to be a shepherd of the flock of God, is a stranger to that salvation which he professes to preach. His mode of preaching soon proves to those whose hearts are acquainted with the truths of God, that he is a stranger to them and therefore, knowing him to have got into the fold in an improper way, they consider him a thief, a robber, and a murderer; and who can blame them if they wholly desert his ministry ? There are preachers of this kind among all classes. 1.I am the door of the sheep.] It is through me only that a man can have a lawful entrance into the ministry; and it is rmigh me alone that mankind can be saved. Instead of Iam the door, the Sahidic version reads, I am the shepherd; but this reading is found in no other version, nor in any MS. 8. All that ever came before me] Or, as some translate, All that came instead of me, προ εμου, i. e. all that came as the Christ, or Messiah, such as Theudas, and Judas the Gaulomite, who are mentioned Acts v. 30, 37. and who were indeed no other than thieres, plundering the country wherever they came; and murderers, not only slaying the simple people who resisted them, but leading the multitudes of their followers to the slaughter. But our Lord probably refers to the scribes and Pharisees, who pretended to show the way of salvation to the peoplewho in fact stole into the fold, and clothed themselves with the fleece, and devoured the sheep. The words προ εμου, before me, are wanting in EGMS. Mt. BKV, seventy others, Syriuc, Persic, Syriac Hieros. Gothic, Saron, Vulgate, eleven copies of the Itala; Basil, Cyril, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthemius, Augustin, and some others. Griesbach has left them in the text with a note of doubtfulness. The reason why these words are wanting in so many respectable MSS., Versions, and Fathers, is probably that given by Theophylact, who says that the Manicheans inferred from these words, that all the Jewish prophets were impostors. But our Lord has borne sufficient testimony to their inspiration in a variety of places. Κλέπτης and λησης, the thief and the robber, should be properly distinguished: the one takes by cunning and stealth: the other openly and by violence. It would not be difficult to find bad ministers who answer to both these characters. attention and saves souls. Let every man know that in this respect his sufficiency and success are of the Lord. 9. I am the door; by me if any man enter, &c.] Those who come for salvation to God, through Christ, shall get it: he shall be saved-he shall have his sins blotted out: his soul purifi ed; and himself preserved unto eternal life. This the scribes and Pharisees could neither promise nor impart. Go in and out] This phrase, in the style of the Hebrews, points out all the actions of a man's life; and the liberty he has of acting or not acting. A good shepherd conducts his flock to the fields where good pasturage is to be found; watches over them while there, and brings them back again, and secures them in the fold. So he that is taught and called of God feeds the flock of Christ with those truths of his word of grace which nourish them unto eternal life: and God blesses together both the shepherd and the sheep, so that going out and coming in they find pasture: every occurrence is made useful to them: and all things work together for their good. 10. But for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy] Those who enter into the priesthood that they may enjoy the revenues of the church, are the basest and vilest of thieves and murderers. Their ungodly conduct is a snare to the simple, and the occasion of much scandal to the cause of Christ. Their doctrine is deadly; they are not commissioned by Christ, and therefore they cannot profit the people. Their character is well pointed out by the prophet Ezekiel, chap. xxxiv. 2, &c. Wo be to the shepherds of Israel, that do feed themselves! Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock, &c. How can worldly-minded, hireling, fox-hunting, and card-playing priests, read these words of the Lord, without trembling to the centre of their souls! Wo to those parents who bring up their children merely for church honours and emoluments! Suppose a person have all the church's revenues, if he have God's wo, how miserable is his portion! Let none apply this censure to any one class of preachers exclusively. That they might have life] My doctrine tends to life, because it is the true doctrine-that of the false and bad shepherds tends to death, because it neither comes from, nor can lead to, that God who is the fountain of life. Might have it more abundantly.] That they might have an abundance, meaning either of life, or of all necessary good things; greater felicity than ever was enjoyed under any pe. riod of the Mosaic dispensation; and it is certain that Christians have enjoyed greater blessings and privileges than were ever possessed by the Jews, even in the promised land. If περισσον be considered the accusative fem. Attic, agreeing with ζωην, (see Parkhurst,) then it signifies more abundant life; that is, eternal life; or, spiritual blessings much greater than had ever yet been communicated to man, preparing for a glorious immortality. Jesus is come that men may have abundance; abundance of grace, peace, love, life, and salvation. Blessed be Jesus! 11. I am the good shepherd] Whose character is the very reverse of that which has already been described. In verses 7 and 9. our Lord had called himself the door of the sheep, as being the sole way to glory, and entrance into eternal life; here he changes the thought, and calls himself the shepherd, because of what he was to do for them that believe in him, in order to prepare them for eternal glory. Giveth his life for the sheep] That is, gives up his soul as a sacrifice to save them from eternal death. Some will have the phrase here only to mean hazarding his life, in order to protect others; but the 15th, 17th, and 18th verses, as well as the whole tenor of the new covenant, suficiently prove that the first sense is that in which our Lord's words should be understood. 12. But he that is a hireling] Or, as my old MSS. Bible reads it, the Marchaunt, he who makes merchandize of men's souls; bartering them and his own too for filthy lucre. Let not the reader apply this, nor any of the preceding censures, to any particular class or order of men: every religious party may have a hireling priest, or minister; and where the provision is the greatest, there the danger is most. The reflection of pious Quesnel on this verse is well worth A pastor ought to remember that whoever boasts of being the way of salvation, and the gate of heaven, shows himself to be a thief and an impostor; and though few are arrived at this degree of folly, yet there are many who rely too much upon their own talents, eloquence, and labours; as if the salvation of the sheep depended necessarily thereon; inabide with them in the time of danger or persecution. They Whose own the sheep are not] A hireling priest, who has never been the instrument of bringing souls to God, will not Christ the good shepherd. A division among the Jews. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth | have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 151 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 down my life that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I 13.-n Isa. 56. 8.-o Ezek. 37. 22. Eph.2. 9.-q Ch. 2. 19.-r Chap. 6.38. & 15. 10. k 2 Tim. 2.19.-1 Mart. 11. 27.-m Ch. 15. 4. 1 Pet.2. 25.-p Isn 53. 7, 8, 12. Heb. 2. are not the product of his labour, faith, and prayers: he has no other interest in their welfare, than that which comes from the fleece and the fat. The hireling counts the sheep his own, no longer than they are profitable to him; the good shepherd looks upon them as his, so long as he can be profitable to them. Among the ancient Jews some kept their own flocks, others hired shepherds to keep them for them. And every owner must naturally have felt more interest in the preservation of his flock, than the hireling could possibly feel. 14. I know my sheep] I know, ταεμα, them that are mine; I know their hearts, their wishes, their purposes, their circumstances, and I approve of them; word to know is often taken in the Scriptures. Homer represents the goatherds as being so well acquainted with their own, though mixed with others, as easily to distinguish them. 22. The feast of the dedication] This was a feast instituted by Judas Maccabaus, in commemoration of his purifying This feast began on the twenty-fifth of the month Cisleu, the temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. (which answers to the eighteenth of our December) and continued for eight days. When Antiochus had heard that the Jews had made great rejoicings, on account of a report that had been spread of his death: he hastened out of Egypt to Jerusalem, took the city by storm, and slew of the inhabitants in three days forty thousand persons; and forty thousand more he sold for slaves to the neighbouring nations. Not conburnt-offerings; and broth being made by his command, of tented with this, he sacrificed a great sow on the altar of some of the flesh, he sprinkled it all over the temple, that he might defile it to the uttermost. See Prideaux's Connexions, vol. iii. p. 236. edit. 1725. After this, the whole of the temple service seems to have been suspended for three years, great dilapidations having taken place also in various parts of the buildings; see 1 Macc. iv. 36, &c. As Judas Maccabæus not only restored the temple service, and cleansed it from pollution, &c. but also repaired the ruins of it, the feast was called τα εγκαινια, the renovation. It was winter.] Χειμων ην, or it was stormy, or rainy weather. And this is the reason, probably, why our Lord is reThough it certainly was in winter when this feast was held, presented as walking in Solomon's porch, or portico: ver. 23. yet it does not appear that the word above refers so much to the time of the year, as to the state of the weather. Indeed the dedication was mentioned, because every body knew that there was no occasion to add it was winter, when the feast of as that feast was held on the twenty-fifth of the month Cisleu, that it was in the winter season. John has here omitted all that Jesus did from the time when he left Jerusalem, after the feast of Tabernacles in September was ended, until the feast of the Dedication in the December other evangelists had given an account of what our Lord did following: and he did it probably because he found that the in the interval. St. Luke relates what our Lord did on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem, to this feast: chap. xvii. 11-37. was the fourth time (according to John's account) that Jesus xviii. 1-14. Observe likewise, that this time here mentioned went up to the feast at Jerusalem in about a year: for first, the feast of Pentecost, as it seems to have been; chap. v. 1. he went up to the feast of the Pass-over; chap. ii. 13. next to then to the feast of Tabernacles: chap. vii. 2, 10. and lastly to seems purposely to have pointed out his presence in Jerusathe feast of the Pass-over, in which he was crucified. John omitted the mention of every one of them. See Bishop Pearce, lem at these four feasts, because all the other evangelists have and see the note on chap. v. 1. few the Romans, and 23. Solomon's porch] By what we find in Josephus, Ant. b. xx. c. 8. s. 7. a portico built by Solomon on the east side of the outer court of the temple, was left standing by Herod, when But when Agrippa came to Jerusalem, a he rebuilt the temple. This portico was four hundred cubits long, and was left standing, probably because of its grandeur and beauty. years before the destruction of the city by which time what Herod had begun was not completed) the about eighty years after Herod had begun his building (till pense, using for argument not only that the building was growJews solicited Agrippa to repair this portico at his own exing ruinous, but that otherwise eighteen thousand workmen, Christ asserts himself to be the CHAPTER X. 24. Hose long dost thou make us to doubt?] Or, how long dost thou kill us with suspense. Εως πότε την ψυχην ημων αίρεις, literally, how long wilt thou take away our life? Mr. Markland would read πώρεις, for αίρεις, which amounts nearly to the same sense with the above. The Jews asked this question through extreme perfidiousness; they wished to get hiin to declare himself king of the Jews, that they might accase him to the Roman governor: and by it they insolently asionated that all the proofs he had hitherto given them of ais divine mission, were good for nothing. 25. I told, you, &c.] That is, I told you before what I tell you now again, that the works which I do bear testimony to me. I Lave told you that I am the light of the world: the Son of God: the good shepherd: that I am come to save: to give afe to give liberty to redeem you: that in order to this, I must die, and rise again and that I am absolute master of my life, and of my death. Have you not noticed my omnisGence, in searching and discovering the very secrets of your Learts 1 Have you not seen my omnipotence in the miracles which I have wrought? Have not all these been suflicient to convince you? and yet ye will not believe! See the works which bore testimony to him as the Messiah, enumerated Matt. xi. 5. 26. Ye are not of my sheep] Ye have not the disposition of those who come unto me to be instructed and saved: see what follows. 27. My sheep hear my voice] But ye will not hear; my sheep follow me; but ye will neither follow nor acknowledge me. Any person who reads without prejudice may easily see, that Jur Lord does not at all insinuate that these persons could not beheve, because God had made it impossible to them; but simply because they did not hear and follow Christ, which the whole of our blessed Lord's discourse proves that they might have done. The sheep of Christ are not those who are included in any eternal decree, to the exclusion of others from the yearnings of the bowels of eternal mercy: but they are those who hear, believe in, follow, and obey, the Saviour of the world. 28. They shall never perish] Why? Because they hear iny voice, and follow me: therefore I know, I approve of, and love Lein, and give them eternal life. They who continue to hear Christ's voice, and to follow him, shall never perish. They give themselves up to God-believe so on Jesus that he lives in their hearts; God hath given unto them eternal life, and this life is in his Son, and he that hath the Son hath life, 1 John v. 11, 12. Now it is evident that only those who have Curist living in and governing their souls, so that they possess the mind that was in him, are his sheep; are those that shall never perish, because they have this eternal life abiding in them: therefore to talk of a man's being one of the elect-one that shall never perish-one who shall have eternal life-who shall never be plucked out of the hand of God, &c. while he lives in sin, has no Christ in his heart, has either never receiwed. or fallen away from the grace of God, is as contrary to common sense, as it is to the nature and testimonies of the Most High. Final perseverance implies final faithfulness-he | Liat endures to the end shall be saved-he that is faithful unto death shall have a crown of life. And will any man attempt | to say that he who does not endure to the end, and is unfaithful, shall ever enter into life? 24. My Father-is greater than all] More powerful than all the united energies of men and demons. He who loves God must be happy and he who fears him, need fear nothing en this side eternity. 30. I and my Father are one.] If Jesus Christ were not God, could he have said these words without being guilty of blasphemy? It is worthy of remark that Christ does not say, Iand My Father, which my our translation very improperly supplies, and which in this place would have conveyed a widely different meaning: for then it would imply that the Auman nature of Christ, of which alone, I conceive, God is ever said to be the Father in Scripture, was equal to the Most High: but he says, speaking then as God over all, I and THE Father, εγω και ὁ Πατηρ ἓν εσμεν, the Creator of all things, the Judge of all men, the Father of the spirits of all flesh, are ONE, ONE in nature, ONE in all the attributes of Godhead, and ONE in all the operations of those attributes: and so it is evident the Jews understood him. See chap. xvii. 11, 22. 31. The Jews took up stones] To stone him as a blasphemer, Messiah, and to be one with God. 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from iny Father; for which of those works do ye stone me I 33 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, I said, Ye are gods ? 35 If he called them gods, kunto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and msent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, am the Son of God 1 37 P If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. Cn 8.59.-h Ch.5.18.-i Paa 82.6.-k Rom. 13.1.-1 Ch.6. 27.-m Ch.3.17. & 5.36. 37 & 8.42-n Ch.5.17, 18. Ver.31.- Luke 1.35. Ch.9 35, 37.-p Ch. 15 24. Lev. xxiv. 14-16. because he said he was one with God. The evangelist adds the word again, because they had attempted to do this before, see chap. viii. 59. but it seems they were prevented froin doing this now, by the following discourse. 32. Many good works have I showed you] I have healed your sick, delivered those of you who were possessed, from the power of demons; I have fed multitudes of your poor, and I have taught you in all places, at all times, without expense, with patience; and is this my reward? To show good works, or good things, is a Hebraism, which signifies to do them really, to give good things liberally. The phrase is similar to the following: Who will show us any good? Psal. iv. 6. i. e. who shall give us good things. SHOW us thy mercy, Psal. lxxxv. 7. i. e. give us to feel the effects of thy mercy. Thou hast SHOWED thy people hard things, Psal. lx. 3. i. e. thou hast treated them with rigour! Thou hast SHOWED me great and sore troubles, Psal. lxxi. 20. i. e. thou hast exposed me to terrible hardships. 33. But for blasphemy] I have elsewhere shown that the original word βλασφημείν, when applied to men, signifies to speak injuriously of their persons, character, connexions, &c. but when applied to God it signifies to speak impiously, i. e. contrary to his nature, perfections, the wisdom of his providence, or goodness of his works. Thou, being a man] That is, only a man-makest thyself God. When Christ said before, v. 30. I and the Father are one, had the Jews understood him (as many called Christians profess to do) as only saying he had a unity of sentiments with the Father, they would not have attempted to treat him for this as a blasphemer: because in this sense Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, and all the prophets, were one with God. But what irritated them so much was, that they understood him as speaking of a unity of nature. Therefore they say here, thou makest thyself God; which word they understood, not in a figurative, metaphorical, or improper sense, but in the most literal meaning of the term. 34. Is it not written in your law] The words which our Lord quotes are taken from Psal. lxxxii. 6. which shows that under the word law, our Lord comprised the Jewish sacred writings in general. See also chap. xii. 34. xv. 25. Ye are gods ?] That is, judges, who are called אלהים elohim That judges are here meant, appears from Psal. lxxxii. 2, &c. and also from what follows here. And this is probably the only place where the word אלהים is applied to any but the true God: see Parkhurst under the root אלה 35. Unto whom the word of God came] Bishop Pearce thinks that "the word λόγος here, is put for λόγος κρίσεως, the word, or matter of judgment, as in 2 Chron. xix. 6. where Jehoshaphat, setting judges in the land of Judah says, take heed what ye do: judge not for men, but for the Lord, who is with you in judgment-λογοί της κρίσεως, in the words or matters of judgment, SEPT. which is nearly according to the Hebrew משפט bedebar mishpat, in the word or matter of judgment. In Deut. i. 17. when a charge is given to the judges, that they should not be afraid of the face of man, this reason is given: for the judgment is God's. Hence it appears probable, that doyos is here used for λογος κρίσεως ; and it is called λογος Θεου, because it is the judgment that properly belongs to God, and which they who give it on earth, give only as acting in the stead of God. A way of speaking very like to this is found in Heb. iv. 13. where the writer says, προς ον υμιν ο λογος, with whom we have to do, i. e. by whom we are to be judged." But the words λογος Θεων may be here understood for the order, commission, or command of God: and so it properly signifies, Luke iii. 2. and in this sense it is found often employed in the Old Testament. When it is there said, that the word of the Lord came, &c. it means, God gave an order, commission, &c. to such a person, to declare or do such and such things. And the scripture cannot be broken] Αυθηναι, dissolved, rendered of none effect, i. e. it cannot be gainsaid or set aside; every man must believe this, because it is the declaration of God. If those were termed gods who were only earthly mаgistrates, fallible mortals, and had no particular influence of the Divine Spirit, and that they are termed gods, is evident from that scripture which cannot be gainsaid; what greater reason then have I to say, I am the Son of God, and one with God, when as Messiah, I have been consecrated, sent into the world to instruct and save men; and when as God, I have wrought miracles which could be performed by no power less than that of omnipotence ? Account of the ST. JOHΝ. sickness of Lazarus 36 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: | 40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where Chat ye may know, and believe, 'that the Father is in me, and q Ch.5.36. & 14.10.11.- Ch.14. 10, 11. & 17.21.-s Ch.7.30, 44. & 8.59. 37. If I do not the works, &c.] I desire you to believe only on the evidence of my works: if I do not do such works as God only can perform, then believe me not. 38. Believe the works] Though ye do not now credit what I have said to you, yet consider my works, and then ye will see, that these works prove that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and consequently, that I and the Father are one. This seems to be the force of our Lord's argument; and every inan must see and feel that it is conclusive. There was no possibility of weakening the force of this reasoning, but by asserting that these miracles were not wrought by the power of God: and then they must have proved, that not only a man, but a bad man, such as they said Jesus was, could work these miracles. As this was impossible, then the argument of Christ had a complete triumph. 39. They sought again to take him] They could not reply to his arguments but by stones. The evidence of the truth could not be resisted; and they endeavoured to destroy the person who spoke it. Truth may confound the obstinately wicked, but it does not convert them and it is a just judgment of God, to leave those to perish in their gainsayings, who obstinately continue to gainsay and disbelieve. But he escaped] In such a way as we know not, for the evangelist has not specified the manner of it. 40. Beyond Jordan] Rather to the side of Jordan, not be yond it. See the note on chap. vi. 22. and Matt. xix. 1. Where John at first baptized] That is, at Bethabara: see chap. i. 28. Afterward, John baptized at Enon: chap. iii. 23. 42. Many believed on him there.] The people believed on him, 1. Because of the testimony of John the Baptist, whom they knew to be a good and a wise man, and a prophet of the Lord; and they knew he could neither deceive nor be deceived in this matter: and, 2. They believed because of the miracles which they saw Jesus work. These fully proved that all that John had said of him was true. The scribes and Pharisees, with all their science, could not draw a conclusion so just. Truth and common sense are often on the side of the common John at first baptized: and there he abode. t Ch.1.28.- Ch.3.30.- Ch.8.30. & 11.45. people, whom the insolently wise and the unsanctifiedly learned sometimes disingenuously brand with the epithets of mob and swinish multitude. 1. This and the preceding chapter contain two remarkable discomfitures of the Jewish doctors. In the former they were confounded by the testimony of a plain uneducated man, simply appealing to the various circumstances of a matter of fact, at which they cavilled, and which they endeavoured to decry. In this chapter the wise are taken in their own craftiness: the Pharisees are confounded by that wisdom which is from above, speaking of and manifesting the deep things of God. Sometimes God himself stops the mouths of gainsayers; at other times he makes the simplest of his followers too mighty for the most learned among the doctors. Ancient and modern martyrologies of the people of God abound with proofs of both these facts. And the persecutions of the Protestants by the Papists in the reign of Queen Mary afford a very large proportion of proofs. In these the mighty power of God and the prevalence of truth were gloriously apparent. Both the word of God and the Protestant cause were nobly illustrated by those transactions. May that abomination that maketh desolate never more sit in the holy place! 2. It must be remarked by every serious reader, that our Lord did frequently speak of himself to the Jews, as being not only sent of God as their Messiah, but as being one with him. And it is as evident that in this sense, the priests and Pharisees understood him: and it was because they would not credit this, that they accused him of blasphemy. Now, if our Lord was not the person they understood him to state himself to be, he had the fairest opportunity, from their strong remonstrances, to correct their misapprehension of his words, if they really had mistaken his meaning-but this he never at tempts. He rather strengthens his assertions in his consequent discourses with them; which, had not his positions been true, he could not have done, even as an honest man. He not only asserted himself to be equal with God, but wished them to believe it to be true: and he amply confirmed this heavenly doctrine by the miracles he wrought. CHAPTER XI. Account of the sickness of Lazarus, 1. His sisters Martha and Mary send for Christ, 2. Our Lord's discourse with lus disciples on this sickness and consequent death, 3-16. He arrives at Bethany four days after the burying of Lazarus, 17, 18. Martha meets Christ-their conversation, 19-27. She returns, and Mary goes out to meet him, in great distress, 29-33. Christ comes to the grave-his conversation there, 34-42. He raises Lazarus from the dead, 43-46. The priests and Pharisees hearing of this, hold a council, and plot his destruction, 47, 48. The remarkable prophecy of Caiaphas and the consequent proceedings of the Jews, 49-53. Jesus withdraws into a city called Ephraim, 54. They lay wait for him at the pass-over, 55-57. [Α. Μ. 4033. A. D. 29. An. Olymp. CCII. 1.] Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus TOW a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, 2 ( It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) & Mark 11.1, 12.-b Luke 10. 38. 39. 3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, d but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. e Matt. 26.7. Mark 14.3. Ch. 12.3.-d Ch.9.3. Verse 40. the death of Lazarus, which happened about the 18th of the same month. Bishop Newcombe supposes that our Lord might have staid about a month at Bethabara. The harmonists and chronologists differ much in fixing dates and ascertaining times. In cases of this nature, I be. lieve men may innocently guess as well as they can; but they should assert nothing. 2. It was that Mary which anointed) There is much disagreement between learned men, relative to the two anointings of our Lord, and the persons who performed these acts. The various conjectures concerning these points, the reader will find in the notes on Matt. xxvi. 7, &c. but particularly at the end of that chapter. NOTES.-Verse 1. Lazarus of Bethany] St. John, who seldom relates any thing but what the other evangelists have omitted, does not tell us what gave rise to that familiar acquaintance and friendship that subsisted between our Lord and this family. It is surprising that the other evangelists have omitted so remarkable an account as this is, in which some of the finest traits in our Lord's character are exhibited. The conjecture of Grotius has a good deal of weight. He thinks that the other three evangelists wrote their histories during the life of Lazarus; and that they did not mention him for fear of exciting the malice of the Jews against him. And indeed we find from chap. xii. 10. that they sought to put Lazarus to death also, that our Lord might not have one monument of his power and goodness remaining in the land. Probably both Lazarus and his sisters were dead before St. John wrote. Bethany was situated at the foot of the mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem. Bishop Pearce observes that "there is a large gap in John's history of Christ in this place. What is mentioned in the preceding chapter passed at the feast of the dedication, ver. 22, about the middle of ur December: and this miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, seems to have been wrought but a little before the folowing pass-over, in the end of March, at which time Jesus was crucified, as may (he thinks) be gathered from verses 54 and 55 of this chapter, and from chap. xii. 9." John has therefore, according to the bishop's calculation, omitted to mention the several miracles which our Lord wrought for above three months after the things mentioned in the precejecture; and it is very likely that the familiarity arose out of ding chapter. Calmet says, Christ left Jerusalem the day after the dedication took place, which was the 18th of December. He went then to Bethabara, where he continued preaching, and his disciples baptizing. About the middle of the following Jannary, Lazarus fell sick: Christ did not leave Bethabara till after Dr. Lightfoot inquires, why should Bethany be called the town of Martha and Mary, and not of Lazarus And he thinks the reason is, that Martha and Mary had been well known by that anointing of our Lord, which is mentioned Luke vii. 37. (see the note there,) but the name of Lazarus had not been mentioned till now, there being no transaction by which he could properly be brought into view. He therefore thinks that the aorist, αλειψασα, which we translate anointed, should have its full force, and be translated, who had formerly anointed; and this he thinks to have been the reason of that familiarity which subsisted between our Lord and this family; and on this ground, they could confidently send for our Lori when Lazarus fell sick. This seems a very reasonable conthe anointing. Others think that the anointing of which the evangelist speaks, is that mentioned chap. xii. 1, &c. and which happened about six days before the pass-over. St. John, therefore, is supposed to anticipate the account, because it served more particularly to designate the person of whom he was speakine |