tihvaxy of trhe tlveolojical ^emmarjo PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Prof. Paul Van Dyke, D.D. THE PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE REV. CANON H. D. M. SPENC?e:, M.A., VICAR AND RURAL DEAN OF ST. PANCRAS, AND EXAMINING CHAPLAIN TO THE LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL ; AND BY THE REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL. INTRODUCTIONS REV. CANON F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S. — RIGHT REV. H, COTTERILL, D.D., F.R.S.E, VERY REV. PRINCIPAL J. TULLOCH, D.D. — REV. CANON G. RAWLINSON, M.A. REV. A. PLUMMER, M.A. NEW YORK: ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 38 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET. LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH A. CO.. 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. AiJ'c' ft 1956 THE XjJgGjUL SttfV^ PULPIT COMMENTARY EDITED BY THE VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, M.A., D.l)., DEAN OF GLOUCESTER ; AND BY THE REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A, THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. Sntrobuction anb (Exposition : By rey. h. r. Reynolds, d.d., PRESIDENT AND PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, CHESHUNT COLLEGE ; FELLOW OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. i^omilctice : By rev. prof. T. CROSKERY, D.B., LATE PROFESSOR OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, MAGEE COLLEGE, LONDO.VDERRY. i^omilice bu l^arious QVutl)ors : REV. PROF. J. R. THOMSON, M.A. REV. B. THOMAS. REV. D. YOUNG, B.A. REV. GEORGE FROWN, B.A. VOL. II. NEW YORK: ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 38 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET. LONDON : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO.. 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. / THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. EXPOSITION. CHAPTER IX. Thesechapter3(ix.andx.)briugtheconflict with the Jews to a climax before the com- mencement of the PcraeaQ niinistiy. They are doubtless closely connected with what has preceded ; but the note of time (ch. x. 22) implies an interval of some months of intense activity elsewhere— to have carried on the ministry of Christ from the Feast of Tabernacles to the winter. If ch. x. 22 points back, as Westcott argues by alteration of the Received Text and by special transla- tion, to the preceding discourse, we are com- pelled to dissociate the cure of the blind man from the teaching of ch. viii., and to regard the opening verse of ch. ix. as entirely distinct from, and discontinuous with, the stormy scene in the temple. Dr. Eustace Conder, ' Outlines of the Life of Christ,' con- siders the connection so close between the eighth, ninth, and tenth chapters, as to bring the entire series of instructions into one group, and to intercalate a considerable portion of the later Galilean ministry and also that in Pt-rsea between the seventh and eighth chapters. On that hypothesis, after the break-up of the Sanhcdrin on the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles (ch. vii.52),an absence of some months intervened before Jesus (ch. viii. 12) again spoke to them, and said, " I am the Light of the world," deriving his illustration from " the Feast of Lights," which accompanied the en- iainia of ch. x. 22. The removal of the closing words of ch. JOHN— It. viii. 59 from the text as a gloss, favours a pause between the attempt to stone Jesus and the miracle. Lange has the incon- sistent remark that the irapaywv is " the par- ticiple of the preceding though doubtful ■Kaprtyiv." If it were a gloss, the nupriyev had been introduced by some copyist from the irapayuv, and therefore the latter can derive no meaning from the former. Admitting tlie spuriousness of the gloss, the connection between the chapters is not close enough to allow the supposition that, on the passing out of the temple with his disciples, the conversation and miracle took place. Godet thinks that the most j^robable time was the evening of the memorable day when our Lord and his disciples had returned to the temple. True, in Acts iii. 2 a congenital cripple sat at the gate of the temple, asking alms; but in this place there is no mention of the temple. Our Lord may have " seen " this beggar on any one of his peregrinations over the slopes of Olivet or on the road to Beth- any, and now he seems to be in the company of the disciples, and with them alone. They are not apparently suffering from the recent excitement of the angry contest in the temple- court. They have had time to recover tliem- selves, and to draw from Christ, not as the eternal I am, but as their " Rabbi," a solu- tion of a most pressing psychological and theological puzzle which has agitated all schools of thought. Yet the reply of Jesus, involving a fresli illustration of his being the " Light of the world," shows that the great utterances of the preceding discourse B THE GOSPEL ACCOKDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix.l— 41. were still the theme uppermost in his own mind. We know that the discourse, etc., took place on a sahhath, and the result of the healing relates itself most closely to the dis- cussion which followed the healing of the impotent man in ch. v. and vii. Vers. 1 — 7. — (8) The Lord confirms by a sign the declaration that he is the Light of the world, by giving eyesight as loell as light. That which had been proclaimed as a great truth of his Being and mission, viz. that he was the Light of the world, was now to be established and confirmed to the disciples by a signal miracle. The "higher criticism " finds explanation of this and other similar miracles at Bethsaida and Jericho, in the prophecy of Isa. xlii. 19; xliii. 8; xxxv. 5; xxix. 18. Volkmar holds that the story of Zacchseus is thus rewritten ! Thoma thinks that we have a spiritualization of the "miracle" on Saul of Tarsus. It would be waste time to point out the differences which are patent to the simplest criticism. Ver. 1. — And — the Ktti suggests relation both in subject-matter, in time, place, occa- sion, and theme, with that which had pre- ceded— as Jesus was passing by, going along his way, he saw a man blind from birth (cf. 4k KotAias firjTphs ai/Tov, Acts. iii. 2; xiv. 8). He was obviously a well-known beggar, who had often proclaimed the fact that he was blind from birth (see ver. 8). Such a con- dition and history rendered the cure more difficult and hopeless in the view of ordinary professors of the healing art, and the juxta- position of such a symbolic fact with the uear activity of those who were boasting of their Abrahamic privilege and their national and mere hereditary advantages, is one of the instances of the unconscious poesy of the gospel history. There he sits, the very type of the race which says, " We see," but wliich to Christ's eye was proclaiming its utter helplessness and blindness, not asking even to be illumined, and revealing the fundamental injury done to the very race and nature of man, and calling for all the healing power that he had been sent into the world to dispense. The man who had been struck blind, or whose eyesight had been slowly closed by disease, became the type of the effect of special sins upon the cliaracter and life ; thus e.g. vanity conceals radical defects and weaknesses ; pride hides from the sinner's own view his own trans- gressions ; temporary blindness to great faults is one of the symptoms of gross sin like David's, and prejudice is proverbially blind and deaf ; but here is a man who is nothing less than the type of a congenital bias to evil, of hereditary damage done to human nature. Unless Christ can pour light upon those who are born blind, he is not the Saviour the world needs. Ver. 2. — And his disciples asked him, say- ing, Eabbi. This honorific appellation is found in ch. i. 38, 49 ; iii. 2 ; iv. 31 ; vi. 25 ; xi. 8 ; but very rarely in the other Gospels. It is applied to John the Baptist (ch. iii. 26). The question seems to denote a very dif- ferent frame of mind from that with which the previous chapter terminated. Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that be should be born blind 1 It was the current idea and popular doctrine, not only that all sufiering in this life had its origin in sin, and was a witness to the damage done to our nature by sin, by the disruption of our normal re- lations with the living God, but further- more that every peculiar disaster pointed to some special or particular sin. Doubtless the Book of Job was a formal discussion of the qiiestion. The writer of that work re- pudiates the right of any onlooker to infer special sins from peculiar punishments. Jesus, moreover (Luke xiii. 1 — 3), had re- peatedly discouraged the tendency to judge, but he did this by the still more solemn assurance that all men deserved the special fate of some. Still, the calamity of con- genital blindness, with all its hopelessness, provided a very apt occasion for raising the question, " Who did sin, this man, or his parents?" It is and always will be difficult to say whether the disciples thought that they had exhausted the alternatives, or believed that they had plausible reasons for thinking either alternative possible. Some have argued that they had Scripture ground for the second of the suppositious, that the sin of the parents of the blind man was the real cause of the blindness of their son. Thus (Exod. XX. 5) the idea is embedded in the Decalogue, and it is repeated in Exod. xxxiv. 7 and Numb. xiv. 18, that the iniquities of fathers are visited upon their children. The forty years in the wilderness was a case in point (Numb. xiv. 33, 34; Jer. xxxii. 18), and numerous examples may be given of the punishment descending from parent to child ; e.g. upon the house of Ahab, and on the sufferers from exile in Babylon. Compare the continuous threatening of ven- geance for unfaithfulness upon the genera- tion to come. The argument may have been strengthened by observation of the lot of men who have brought poverty, disease, and disgrace upon their unborn children. Eze- kiel had deliberately repudiated the infer- ence that Israel had drawn from their Scriptures, in the dictum or proverb (xviii. 2) that " the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set ou CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. edge," and maintained with great and pasBionate earnestnesa, '' The soul that sin- neth, it shall die." This may have led the disciples to put the conjocturul solution, Did this liiaii sini Is there any way or sense in which the man's own sin could be the cause of so great a calamity ? It seems entirely gratuitous to derive from this passage any final conclusion as to the method in which they supposed it possible that the man's personality preceded his birth, or any certain conviction that they meant more by their question than this — if sin is the cause of such fearful privation, it must either bo the man's parents' or his own. It could not have been his own ; was it then his parents'? Tliere was suflScient discussion of the problem among the Jews for one or more vague and unsettled opinions to bo floating in their minds. (1) It cannot be proved that the doctrine of metempsy- chosis was ever held by the Jews. The lan- guage in which Josephus refers to the views of the Pharisees is ambiguous (cf. 'Bell. Jud.,' ii. 8. 14; 'Ant.,' xviii. 1. 3). The view held by them was simply that " the immortal souls of the good (only) pass into another body," are raised into a new life ; " but that the souls of the sinful al5i(i> Tifiaipia Ko\Ci(4\6s. ^ Ovxi aW ojnojoy is the reading of N, B, C, L, X, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and is adopted by R.T., Tischendorf (8th edit.), Westcott and Hort, but not Godet. It adds piquancy. They have begun to doubt, though they acknowledge resemblance. » X, B, D, L, K, Old Latin and Syriac Ver- sions read rhv 2iX«c{ju, with R.T., Tischen- dorf, and Tregelles, instead of riiv KoKv/xfiri- 6pav ToO 2iAe«a>t, found in other uncials. CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. water do not cnre birth-blindness. He is in a maze, as well he might bo. The avf0\f\l>a should be rendered, according to Meyer, " I looked up " (see Mark xvi. 4). It cannot be so translated in vers. 15 and 18. Doubt- less it strictly means, " I received siglit again ; " but there is something in Grotius's explanation, " No one is incorrectly said to receive that which, though he be deprived of it, belongs to human nature as a whole " (see Westcott). The eyes were there, but unused. Meyer quotes from Pausanias the similar use of oya/SA-e'Treiv, in reference to the recovery or obtaining of sight by a man bom blind. Ver. 12. — They say unto him. Where is that Man (Jesus) ? He saith, I know not. Ver. 13. — They bring to the Pharisees Mm that aforetim« was blind. The "Pha- risees " is not a conclusive definition of the Sanhedrin itself, which is generally denoted by the addition of the phrase, "the chief priests " (ch. vii. 32 or 45). The Pharisees were a liighly organized society, and some well-known gathering of them may have been easily accessible. They were the gene- rally accredited religious guides of the people. One thing militates against such a casual gathering. In ver. 18 the term, "the Jews," the synonym of the ruling ecclesiastical powers in the city, is once more introduced. Moreover, the authorities before whom the discussion and examina- tion were taken appear to possess the power of excommunication from the synagogue. It appears that, in Jerusalem, there existed two minor councils or synagogue-courts, of twenty-three assessors each, corresponding with the similar courts in the Jewish cities, standing in relation to the Sanhedrin, and possessing the faculty of delivering the minor degrees of excommunication from the congregation of Israel. It cannot be said that this presentation of the case to an ecclesiastical court of more or less authority necessarily took place on the day of the healing. It is an open question whether the courts sat on the sabbath. There is nothing to prove immediate trial of the matter. Ver. 14. — Now it was sabbath on the day ' that Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The phrase is peculiar, and im- plies that the day may have been a festival sabbath. The introduction here shows that the difficulty of the neighbours and other friends had already been raised, and some- thing more than a desire on their part for ' 'El' jf vixfoa is found in K, B, L, X, and the Syriac and Italic Versions (so Tregelles, Tischendorf («th edit.), Westcott and Hort, and li.T.). The T.R. 2t* is read by A, D, r, A, A, n, and many other authorities. religious guidance actuated their appeal to the Pharisees. 'WTiy should the healod man bo taken to the Pharisees, or the synagogue- court at all, unless some question of casuistry had been raised ? The movement was one unquestionably adverse to Jesus. It could have had no other motive. Nor can any doubt arise that Jesus had violated the rabbinical rules of the sabbath, though his act had been in perfect harmony with the spirit and even letter of the Mosaic Law. The making of clay with the spittle and the sand was an infringement of tlio rule (' Shabbath,' xxiv. 3). It was curiously laid down in one of the vexatious interpre- tations (preserved in Jerusalem Gemara on 'Shabbath,' 14) tljat while " wine could by way of remedy be applied to the eyelid, on the ground that this might be treated as washing, it was sinful to apply it to the inside of the eye" (Edersheim). And it was positively forbidden (in the same Ge- mara) to apply saliva to the eyelid, because this would be the application of a remedy. All medicinal appliances, unless in cases of danger to life or limb, were likewise for- bidden. Consequently, the Lord had broken with the traditional glosses on the Law in more ways than one (see Winer, ' Bibl. Realw.,' ii. 346 ; Lightfoot, ' Ad Joan. ix. ; * Wetstein on Matt. xii. 9 ; Wiinsche, in loc-). Ver. 15. — Again therefore the Phariseei, before whom the blind man had been brought, unwilling to rest with mere hear- say evidence of such grievous transgression of the Law, themselves also — or, in their turn — asked him {ripaiTcnu, imperfect, were inter- rogating) how he received (recovered) his sight (see note on ver. 11). Not the miracle itself, but the manner of it, interested and excited them. And he said to them, (He) pat clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and I see. This is a shorter and significant abridgment of the process already described. The liealed man seems to guess, by their manner, that some charge was being medi- tated against his Benefactor, and he shrewdly omits the saliva and the maldng of the clay, and the order of the Saviour, and the place whither he had been sent to wash. Ver. 16 indicates, as the evangelist so often does elsewhere (ch. vii. 43 ; x. 19), that the words and works of Christ produce opposite efifects on different classes. Certain individuals of the Pharisees therefore said among themselves, This Man — referring to Christ, then uppermost in their minds and in their machinations— This Man is not from Ood, beoause he keepeth not the sabbath. The form of the sentence is peculiarly con- temptuous, the word "man" being thrown very emphatically to the end of the sentence. This, in their opinion, is another offence against the Law, after serious warning. The THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1— 41. previous controversy (ch. v.) had produced no effect upon Jesus. He continued, in their opinion, to invalidate all his claims by violating the sabbath laws, which they had brought to the highest point of periection. Kenan and others insist on Christ's repeated violation of the sabbath ; but the fact is that the Lord sustained the highest meaning of the sabbath, though he resolutely repu- diated the inhuman glosses and manifest absurdities of the traditionary customs and rabbinical rules. Jesus could not be, they tbougiit (or argued), " from God," invested with his authority, or doing his works, so long as he would not take their view of the sabbath. This Jesiis is making obstinate assault upon their prejudices. On seven distinct occasions the Lord chose to heal on the sabbath, and thus to set the restrictions of august rabbis st defiance. But even in the great Sanhedrin, in the highest council of the nation, sat men of the character of Joseph, Nicodemus, and Gamaliel, who would get some idea of the Divine com- mission of Jesus from the simple fact of the miracles. In this smaller court the op- ponents of Christ ignore and doubt the miracle itself, on account of the unsabbatic heresy, while a few are convinced that signs of this kind (and probably they had many in their minds) were in tiiemselves proof of Divine co-operation and approval. But others said, How can a man that is a sinner (on your hypothesis) do such signs ? " As far as they go, these miracles- are demon- strative proof that at least God must be with him, as he has said, and they make it extremely doubtful whether he can be a bad man after all — can have verily broken the Divine Law." Such a speech as this from Pliarisees is an emphatic proof of the profound efi'ect produced by Jesus uprn the life of the nation. It stands in close asso- ciation with the remarkable statement of Nicodemus (ch. iii. 2), "We know that no man can do these miracles (signs) which thou art doing, except God be with him." Jesus and rabbin ism are here face to face. Eitler he is from God and tJiey are actually making the Law of God void and vapid b}'^ their traditions, or they and their code are from G« d and he, having broken with them, has broken with God, and the miracle will turn out to be magic or falsehood, col- lusion or worse. Thus a solemn crisis of profound importance occurs. And there was a division (ax'^o-fxa, cutting into two parties) amongst them. These opposite effects and conclusions are the confirmation of the words of the prologue (ch. i. 4, 5, 11, 12), and they further triumphantly refute the charge that the author of the Gospel was actuated by an untiring hostility to the kingdom and polity of the ancient Israel. Ver. 17. — They ; i.e. the Pharisees, divided in opinion, though probably united in their interrogation. Those, on the one hand, who believed in the miracle, and held that it carried Divine approbation of the conduct of Jesus, and, on the other hand, those who were so satisfied of the moral fault involved in the transaction, that they held that the miracle itself, if not a piece of deception or collusion, might even indicate some dae- moniac source, rather than a Divine one, say therefore unto the blind man again — the TrdXiv points to the virtual repetition of in- quiries already made (ver. 15) — What dost thou say concerning him, seeing that he opened thine eyes ? " What explanation hast thou to offer? Whsit view dost thou entertain of the Man himself ? Some of us think that his trifling with the sabbatic law puts out of court the idea of any Divine aid having enabled him to work this marvel. Other some, as you see, declare that the fact which has occurred is proof that Jesus must have had God's approval, and be sustained by Divine grace. But what dost thou, the healed man, say? What conclusion hast thou adopted ? Seeing that he has opened thine eyes, what sayest thou of Jesus ? " There is a bare chance tliat the man might give a vague answer, or one which would minimize the miracle. It is obvious that, while the Pharisees were contradicting each other and in danger of open coUioion, the faith of the blind man who had received his sight became stronger. The light was dawn- ing on him. The answer, so far as it went, boldly took the side of Jesus, and perhaps its cue from the language of those who had said, " How can a bad man do such signs as these?" And he said. He is a Prophet (cf. ch. iv. 19 ; vi. 11). Prophets, as divinely sent men, are even more authoritative than learned rabbis. If Jesus has broken through some of these restrictions by which they have " placed a hedge about the Law," .'urely he had a prophetic right to do it. The heal- ing marks a Divine commission, and the healed man owned and freely confessed to so much as this : "He is a Prophet." Mai- monides (quoted by Dr. Farrar) shows that the idea was current that a prophet might, on his own ipse dixit, alter or relax even the sabbath law, and that then the people were at liberty to obey him. Vers. 18, 19. — The narrative once more brings "the Jews" into prominence — the hierarchical party, adverse to Jesus. 'I'he angry magistrates who were in the court allowed it to be seen at once that they will not be tampered with, nor lose the chance, if possible, of pursuing their malicious plans already formed against Jesus. They take the ground that no miracle had occurred. At all events, they must have further cii. ix. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. evidence of the fact. The Jews then did not believe, or refused to hclieve, concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight, and asked them, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind 1 How then doth he now see? There were three questions proposed after the delay involved iu fetching the parents of the blind befrsrar. The first was identification of the blind man. The second was the fact of Lis congenital blindness. The tiiird was tlie means of his cure. Ver. 20. — To the first and second questions the parents give affirmative answers. The identification is complete, and the astounding quality of the cure is demonstrated. His parents (then) ' answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was bom blind. In none of the Gospels, and in no narrative of this Gospel, is more certain proof given of the reality of a perfectly in- explicable phenomenon. Ver. 21. — The third question is prudently remitted back to the consciousness and testimony of the man himself. The parents had some justification for their cowardice. Tliey ha<} no information beyond that which their son had given them. He had stumbled forth as usual on the morning of that sab- bath, and had returned home in transports of joy. Their son had doubtless told them the story (the use of o^Sanfv instead of yivQXTKonfv is significant). They knew by incontestable intuitive knowledge the per- sonality and lifelong affliction of their son ; but, say they, We do not know (absolutely) how he now sees ; or who opened his eyes, we know not. Ask him (if you want to know) ; he is of full age, and therefore his testimony is valid in your court. He will speak (concerning) for himself. " We can only come to know from his testimony what he tells us, and he can himself speak for himself, and tell you all he has told us." Ver. 22. — Tiie evangelist accounts for the reticence of the parents by tlieir fear of consequences. These things said his parents, because they feared the Jews. This pa.ssage provides strong evidence of the technical use of the term " the Jews." Doubtless these parents were Israelites, but they were not "Jews" in the Johannine sense. The "Jews" were the hierarchical and ecclesi- astico-political authorities. For they had already come to the agreement (Luke xxii. 5; Acts xxiii. 20; 1 IMacc. ix. 70); had mutually determined— it does not follow that the Sanliedrin Imd issued a public order, but that a formidable party of " Jews " had • Tisrhendorf, Lachmann, and Westcott and Hurt insert oiv, with K, 13, and omit aiiToh, with ll.T. made a a-wOvKV, had pledged each other and made it sufficiently known even to such persons as the poverty-stricken parents of the blind beggar, that it would be carried out by the adequate authority in such a matter — that if any man should confess that he was Christ (" lie " (avruv) is remark- able— it shows how full the thoughts of the evangelist were of the Pensonality of Jisus), he should be put out of the synagogue ; or, become unsynagogued. The Talmud speaks of three kinds of excommunication (cf. also Jlatt. y. 22), of which the first two were disciplinary; the third answers to complete and final expulsion (in ' Jcr. Moed. K.,' 81, d, ^npQ ^i3> t Whether he be a sinner — using the words of " the Jews " ironically — I know not. You assert it, but the facts of my experience are altogether of a different kind. I do not hnoio, as you say that you do. The Jews reason from foregone prejudices ; the healed man has no such evidence, no such grounds — he adds in immortal words, One thing I know with invincible conviction, that whereas I was blind (De Wette says there is no need to regard the Siv as an imper- fect participle, and the present suggests the whole career of the man from birth till that memorable morning), now I see. The plain consistent testimony of the man triumphs over their logic, which sought to bewilder his judgment. The language which a deeply felt experience can always bring against the a priori demonstrations of the insufliciency of the evidence of Divine revelation. I was blind ; now I see the face of God in nature, the kingdom of God all around me, the fact of my own forgiveness, the dawning of a brighter day. Ver. 26. — They said therefore to him,=' * N, A, B, D, L, omit koX elirev, with Tischendorf (8th edit.), E.T., Tregelles, and Westcott and Hort. f Odv is here substituted by Tischendorf What did he to thee 1 how opened he thine eyes 1 They sought to draw from him the explicit proof that Jesus had broken the sabbath, or possibly to entangle him in some different statement. The fact of the supernatural change is practically conceded to the obstinacy of the man's reiterated de- claration, and the identification of his person by others. Westcott here differs from the majority of recent expositors, and supposes that the " questions suggest that they were willing to believe if the facts were not deci- sive against belief." But the answer of the man proves that he saw the cunning of his antagonists, and was irritated by their con- spicuous design to twist the infinite benefit that he had received into the material of a charge against his Benefactor. Ver. 27.^He answered them, I told you already, and ye did not hear (the Italic Ver- sions and the Vulgate here omit the nega- tion, which De Wette says would be easier of comprehension ; but as it stands, the sen- tence is equivalent to " you had no ears, you took no heed, if you had already listened to the simple facts ") : wherefore would ye hear it again ? You will pay no more heed now than then ; or do ye want to transform it into a charge? There is another alterna- tive, stated in either humble pleading or ironical retort, according as we interpret the Kai. The next question is either, (1) (Luthardt) Would you also be his disciples, like the many multitudes who are shouting his praise ? Is that your bent? surely not ! or (2) it may mean. Is it possible that it is in your mind, not only to find out all about the how of this great miracle, but also to he- come his disciples ? Neither of these inter- pretations is perfectly consistent with hia taunt, " ye did not hear." Therefore (3) (Bengel) the most natural meaning is. Would ye also, as well as myself, the poor beggar, become his disciples ? (so Westcott, Moulton, and Lange). The poor man was roused, ironical, and ready, notwithstanding the threat of the great excommunication hang- ing over him, to announce his own disciple- ship to any extent and at any risk. Ver. 28.— They reviled him, and said,* (8th edit.) and K.T., on the authority of N% B, D, K, L, and versions. Ae is found in A, r, A, A. The omission of iraMv does not stand on quite the same ground, for it rests on X*, B, D, and numerous versions, while it occurs in N", A, X, r, and many other uncials. ' Tregelles, Tischendorf (8th edit.), and Godet, with N<=, D, L, and important cur- sives, but not K.T., omit the koI before i\otS6p7j(xav ; they also omit oiv after eKoi- S6pri(Tau, the reading of T.B., N*, B, and 69, and several Fathers. CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 11 Thou art the disciple of that Man (eKflvov) — between whom mid us there is an impass- able chasm. Here is one of the stronjjest indications of the irreversible breach be- tween the Jews and Jesus — but we, instead of being his disciples, are disciples of Moses. This speech shows that, whatever the blind man meant to convey by the reproachful entreaty of ver. 27, the Jews took it as proof of his virtual confession of disciple- ship to Jesus, and this they assumed was tantamount to brcakiu? with Moses. They assume that their traditionary interpretation of the Mus:iic Law has all the authority of the great Lawgiver himself. Ver. 29. — They pursue the antithesis be- tween Jesus and Moses, and tlius make an involuntary admission of his abnormal and astoimding claims. We know — it is the fun- damental fact of our religious history, ami of the Divine revelation entrusted to us. We know, by supreme conviction, as something almost equivalent to a fundamental law of thought, that God hath spoken to Moses. (Observe the perfect KeKaKriKev, " hath spoken " in such fashion that his words abide for ever and are still sounding in their ears.) ]Moses was made a little lower than the angels. God spake to him on Sinai, and from the mercy-seat, and face to face as a man speaketh with his friend (Exod. xxxiii. 11 ; Deut. xxxiv. 10 ; Numb. xii. 8). The most august ideas and associations clustered round his venerable name. Jesus was supposed to have challenged the supreme authority of Moses, and no sort of comparison could be drawn, in their opinion, between the two. But as for this Man, we know not whence he is. It is remarkable that, in ch. vii. 27, they had been equally explicit in declaring, " We know whence he is." Then they thought to discredit his Messianic claim by drawing a distinction between the well- known parentage and home of Jesus, and the coming of Blessiah from some undis- coverable source, some hidden place, where God retained him before his revelation to Israel (see notes, ch. vii. 27, 28). While, however, Christ (ch. viii. 14) allowed the validity of their superficial knowledge on that occasion, he declared that he alone knew whence he came and whither he was going (see notes, ch. viii. 14). It is, perhaps, in reference to this last expression that they echo his own words. The supernatural source of his being and teaching seemed to their minds, throughout that discourse and controversy, to vacillate between the Divine and the daemonic. The contrast between Moses and Jesus in this bitter speech runs along the same low level. "We know not whence " he derives his prophetic character, or his right to legislate for the people of God. Ver. 30. — The man answered and said to them, Why ' herein ' is the ' marvellous thing. Ijango translates, " With respect to this man, this is marvellous, to wit." The K.T. has accurately given the force of the yap, the combination of ye and apa, by the rendering " why ? " The " herein " is the ignorance which the Jews now profess of the Divino call and mission of the Healer. Their con- fusion, their obscurity, their vacillation, on such a patent fact is the marvel of marvels, almost more wonderful than the cure of his blindness. That ye know not whence he is, and (yet) he opened my eyes (/cat not unfre- quently has the force of " and yet " — simple juxtaposition conveying a strong contrast; see ch. viii. 55 ; vi. 70 ; vii. 4). The man rises into holy and eloquent wrath. Their entire history, their principles of judging of a prophetic call, the whole modus of Divine revelation, ought to have shown that one whose simple will stood in such vivid juxtaposition with work which none but Almighty God could do, ought to have en- lightened them. " The blind man, finding he was argued with, grew bolder, and began to argue in turn ; if he had not studied theo- logy (say rabbinical casuistry' and Mishnaic accretions to the Divine Law), he at least knew his catechism " (Godet). Ver. 31. — We know — the new-born dis- putant takes up the language of these proud casuists, and adopts the technical phrase which they had used (vers. 24, 29) — we know, you and I, that God heareth not sin- ners in any special sense of miraculous ap- proval (Job xxvii. 9 ; xxxv. 13 ; Ps. cix. 7 ; and especially Ps. Ixvi. 18, 19 ; Prov. xv. 29 ; Isa. i. 15). One aspect of Old Testament teaching shows that a man must delight himself in the Lord in order to receive the desires of his heart. If we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us; but the prayer of the sinner, the desire of the wicked, is contrary to the will of God. When the sinner turns from his sins to the Lord, the cry for mercy is in harmony with the will of God. In one sense every prayer is the prayer of sinful men ; but it is the Divine life working within them that offers accept- able prayer. The prayer of the sinner as such is not heard. We know God does not listen to the cry of sinners, when, as sinners, ' The original position of the yhp (Meyer) is determined in part by the curious reading of X, A, and cursives, iv yap rovro, " for this one thing;" the T.R. and R.T. here read iv yap To{nif>, with A, r, A, with many later uncials and cursives. N, B, D, with Tregelles, Tischondorf (8th edit.), read ^i* TovT(fi yap, the more ordinary position of ydp. Tb is read before 6avfj.a(rr6y in B, 1, 33 ; but is omitted by T.R., with A, D. 12 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN". [ch. ix. 1—41. they ask from the ground of their sin, to se- cure their own sinful purpose ; but if any man be a worshipper of God (the word Ofoaefivs is an oTraf \iy6ntvov, and occurs nowhere else in the New Testament), and doeth his (God's) will, this man he heareth. The blind beggar has learned the deepest truth of the Divine revelation about the conditions of accept- able prayer. The immediate application ■was the miraculous unwonted event as answer to the eflfectual fervent prayer of the righteous man (see Jas. v. 16 — 18). !So much for the general relation of this Healer to God. The rabbis were never tired of urging that the " answers to prayer de- pended on a man being devout and doing the will of God " (Edersheim, who quotes ' Ber.,' 6, 6 ; ' Taanith,' iii. 8 ; ' Succah,' 14, a ; ' Yoma,* 28, a). So that the man was here fighting with drawn sword. Vers. 32, 33. — The man, having once begun, will not be stopped in his argument. Since the world began (e*c rov aiuivos does not elaewhere occur in the New Testament ; we have ott' alUvos three times, and airh tSiv aiwvwp) it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of one bom blind. There is no record of any cure of blindness in the Old Testament. The miracle stands forth with grand distiuctne.ss on the page of history. If such stories had been told, neither he nor the author of this narrative knew of them. Tiie Pharisees and Jews have no reply to tliis burst of grateful but indignant testimony to the uniqueness of his Deliverer, and then, with a home-thrust which cut through their weak objections and repudiated their cruel inferences, he added. Unless this Man were from God, he could do nothing ; he could neither have wrought this marvel, nor any of the deep impressions wrought upon you. " From God ; " that is the mail's final answer to the query, " What sayest thou of him, seeiug that he hath opened thine eyes?" God has the glory, while I repudiate what you give as a judg- ment against him. Verily God has heard him as One who in tliis thing has simply done his will. Thus the Jews are compelled for a few moments to hear, from one known as a street-beggar, words of teaching along the finest lines of a deep experience. Ver. 34. — Vanquished by this logic of simple fact and plain inference, the au- thorities have no other weapon to use but invective and persecution. They answered and said to him, Thou wast altogether bom in sins ; through and through a born reprobate. They take up the superstitious idea which seems (ver. 2) to have been floating in the mind of the disciples. From sins of parents or from thine own sins in thy mother's womb, thou earnest into the world with the brand of thy infamy upon thee. Thus they admit the change that has come over him by reverting to the peculiar depravity which had been stamped upon his brow, according to their narrow inter- pretation of Divine providence. And dost thou presume to teach us 1 — the chosen, the learned, the approved ministers of God? Dost thou, with all this heritage and mark of separation from God, dare to instruct the chief pastors and teachers of Israel ? They did not stop with cruel words, but in their bitterness of spirit they thrust him forth ; they violently expelled him from tlie syna- gogue where they were then seated (so ileyer, Maldouatu.s, Bengel, and many others). We are not told that there and then they excommunicated, or unsyna- gogued, him. It is probable that this ban followed, with the usual terrible formalities. He had practically confessed tliat the highest claims which Jesus had ever made about himself were true, and he made himself liable to the curse already pronounced (ver. 22). This marvellous narrative, with its lite- like detail, is not made the text of a dis- course. It remains fur ever the startling vindication of our Lord's own word, that he was Light to the world and Eyesight too, and was able to supply both the objective con- dition and subjective change by which the nature of man could alone receive the light of life. From ver. 8 to ver. 34 is almost the only passage in the Gospel, with the exception of the passage, ch. iii. 22 — 36, in which we are not standing in the actual presence of the Lord, or are not listening to his judgments on men and things, and to his revelations of the mystery of his own Person. The narrative so far stands by itself, and gives us an insight into the life which was being enacted in Jerusalem contemporane- ously with the Divine self-revelation of Jesiis. Vers. 35— 41.— (10) The issues of the ministry of light. Vers. 35 — 38. — (a) The vision of those who see not. These verses narrate tlie sequel so far as the man was concerned. Weslcott and others rather exaggerate the bearing of it when they say here was " the beginning of the new society." "The universal society is based en the confession of a new truth " (Westcott). Even in this Gospel the first chapter shows that Jesus gathered disciples about him who from that time onward we;e to "see angels of God ascending and de- scending on the Son of man." In the second and fourth chapters he "made and baptized disciples." The twelve (ch. vi.) would not leave him in the midst of widespread dis- affection, because they confessed that he CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 13 was " the Holy One of God," who had " tho words of eternal life." Conseqiieutly, it ia enough to say that, when tho authorities of the Jewish ecclesia excluded the disciple of Clirist, the Lord admitted him to a nobler fellowship; but tho fellowship, the society, had been already formed. Ver. 35. — Jesus heard that they had cast him out ; or, thrnd him forth. Jesus is represented as " hearing," not from tho man's own lips, but from the current report. Ho is not said to have become acquainted with the circumstance by intuition, but to have heard by the ordinary processes of knowledge. 'J'his simple touch shows how consistent tiie writer is throughout with the main tliesis of his Gosptl touching the perfect humanity of the Son of God, that he " was made flcsh," and had "come in the flesh," though he was " from God." The excommunication noisily and widely braited was further proof of the war to the knife between '• the Jews" and Jesus. The man has fallen under tiie ban for practically avowing in the most public way that Jesus was " the Prophet," if not the Christ. And having found him. So, then, the Lord, as the good Shepherd, sought out the lost sheep in the wilderness, and did not rest until he found him. The daylight that had made an altogether new world for one who had aforetime never looked on human face, had been strangely checkered and shadowed. He only saw angry faces and averted glances, and even his cowardly parents would have hesitated to receive liim into their poor abode; but Jesus found liim, and said, Dost thou believe on the ' San of God 1 Not " Dost thou wish to believe? " but " Dost thou put thy trust in the Son of God?" Dost thou recognize the ' Tischendorf (Sth edit.), Westcott and Hort, and IVIoulton, on the authority of N, B, D, with Saliidic and ^Ethiopie Versions, read Tov avQpwirov. But Meyer, Lachmann, Tregelles, and K.T., with A, L, X, r. A, and other uncials, 1,33, and all cursives and numerous versions, read rov ©eou. AVest- cott admits the wide early currency of the latter reading, but thinks that the diffusion and frequent use elsewhere of the term "Son of God" might more naturally have led to alteration than the alternative reading would liavu led to the reverse process. The very phrase "Son of man" is difficult to account for or understand in this conntction; but Westcott thinks the use of it due to the fact that the term meant more than the current Jewish conception of " Son of God," and that the Lord hero suggested to him "One who, being Man, was the Hope of man." fact that the Messiah of the nation's hope has cume ? Art thou believing in him ? It would be more natural that the more current appellation Son of God, rather than the more recondite idea of Son of man, should have been held out before the healed man. The '• tiiou " is emphatic, and contrasts the state of the mind of this man with that of "tho Jews." He had declared that his Healer was "from God," that he was "a Prophet," One who " did God's will," and whom " God heareth," even when he asked for apparently impossible things. Christ testa the quality and calibre of his faith. Ver. 3(J. — He answered and said,' And who is he, that (iVa) I may believe on himi Tho conjunction adds mucli to the eager- ness of the reply. His faith was ready for full expression. He lialf suspected, aa the Samaritan woman (eh. iv. 25) did, that Jesua was pointing to himself. The ris ; rather tiian Tt; ("who?" rather than "what?") shows the intensity of the man's desire to find and hail and trust " the Son of God." The disposition, the posture, of his mind is that of faith. The adequate object for that faith has not been revealed to him. Apt symbol of many in their passage from dark- ness to light. When receptive, susceptible, conscious of need, with some notion, though an obscure one, of whom and of what they most of all need, many are disposed even now to utter the same importunate request. Ver. 37. — [And ^] Jesus said. Thou hast both seen him, with the eyes so recently opened. Hast thou not found out that I am thy Healer, thy Prophet, thy Messiah? The ewpaKas refers to the present interview, not to any previous one ; for we are not told that he had already sought or found his Bene- factor (Liicke, Meyer, Luthardt). Thou hast seen him with tho eyes of thy spirit as well as the eyes of flesh, and, in addi- tion, he that talketh with thee, familiarly aa man with man, is he — "that sublime Person who seems to stand far ofl' from thought and experience" (Westcott). The c/celvoj of this passage and ch. xix. 35 also is a fairly classical usage for expressing, in the lips of the speaker, a reference to himself pointed at and presented objectively as a third person (see Meyer, and our note on ch. xix. 35, and its bearing on the authorship of tho ' The introduction of tho koi, on tho authority of X, B, D, X, and many other uncials and cursives and versions, is accepted by Tischendorf (Sth edit.), K.T., Luthardt, JVIcvGr etc ' Tischendorf (Sth edit.) and R.T. omit Si, with X, B, D, X, 33, and some versions; the considerable authority for Se is rendered more doubtful by variation of readings — kuI i(i>fi, Kol (iirfi/, etc. 14 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ce. ix. 1—41. Gospel). Nowhere does our Lord more openly admit that he was the Christ, the Son ot" God. The disciples scarcely rise beyond the climax of this revelation even on the night of the Passion. The man's faith was waiting for its Object, and the vision comes to his unsealed spiritual vision. Ver. 38.— And he said, Lord, I believe— the Kyrie means more than in ver. 36 — and he worshipped him. The verb irpoffKwuv is used by John for homage paid to God (ch. iv. 20 ; xii. 20 ; and twenty-three times in the Revelation, always in the sense of " worship "). This prostration, when noprayer ■was offered, no forgiveness asked, but a simple act of faith exercised, waS nothing less than the highest homage the man could pay. Tlie adoiation of this man is a fitting climax to the scene (ch. viii. 59), and antici- pates that of Thomas (ch. xx. 28). The higher significance of the Sonship dawned upon him in the unearthly tone and manner of the Lord. These scenes, and the offer of Divine homage unrebuked by Jesus and uncommented upon by the evangelist, are among the most potent arguments for the belief of the Church in the Divine nature of the Lord. Vers. 39 — 41. — (h) The blindness of those who are satisfied with their twilight. Ver. 39. — The sight of the man, enlight- ened and prostrate in adoring gratitude, led Jesus, in the face of the bystanders, with Pharisees among them (ver. 40), to declare the general effects which would follow from his entire self-manifestation (so Meyer, Godet). Westcott says, " Not to any one or group, but aa interpreting the scene before him." A sublime monologue. And Jesus said, I came for judgment. Not Kplciv, to execute judgment, but els Kpifxa, with a view to bring about a judicial decision on the moral condition of mankind (see notes on ch. iii. 17, 18; v. 22, 23; viii. 11, 15, 16) as a matter of fact. " This is the Kpia(TLs, such an excuse. Could they be, judicially or naturally, blind ? The very idea was an absurdity, and so Jesus added. But now ye say, We see. You even boast that you are " instructors of the ignorant, and leaders of the blind ; a light to those who sit in darkness, having the form of knowledge and truth in the Law " (Rom. ii. 17 — 21). You are the very opposite of the "not-seeing" (ft^ /3Ae7roi/T6j) ; you are self-satisfied; you will not come to the Light. Wliat is the issue? The Lord seems to pause before his answer (the odv, " therefore," is rejected by the best manuscripts and critics) : Your sin abideth ; or, remaineth. It will remain until you fully admit the great principle and reason, the motive and charac- teristics, of my mission. The very facility you profess, the intimacy you claim with the Law and its founder, and your partial know- ledge of my claim, take away your excuse. The discourse which follows shows how entire must be the submission to Christ, how complete the union with him, of those who say, " We see. HOMILETICS. Vers, 1 — 12. — Cure of the man horn hlind. This new miracle caused a fresh outburst of Jewish hatred against our Lord. Of the six miracles of blindness recorded in the Gospels, this only is a case of blindness from birth. I. The cukious question of the disciples. " Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind ? " 1. Their conviction was that affliction was in all cases the consequence of sin. (1) In the moral government of God there is a necessary connection between sin and suffering (Rom. vi. 23). (2) Yet the suffering may be sent to prevent sin as well as to punish it. 2. Though they were disciples, they erred respecting the connection between sin and suffering. There was an alternative question. (1) They seemed to think it possible that the man born blind should have sinned before he was born, in some pre-existing state. The disciples were the victims of many traditional errors and delusions. (2) They had more ground for believing that the aflfliction of blindness was the effect of the sin of the beggar's parents. Some fact of this kind was familiar to their minds in the wording of the second commandment (Exod. xx. 5), and in the representative relationship of family life (Heb. vii. 10). (3) The disciples submitted the question to our Lord because of its extreme difficulty. The one supposition seemed ungrounded and impossible, the other seemed not in conflict with the justice of God. II. Our Lobd's answer to their question. " Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents : but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." 1. Our Lord does not assert the sinlessness of the beggar gr his parents. 2. But he denies any moral connection in this case between the individual and family sin and the blindness from birth. It is a warning that we should not be too ready to regard every affliction as a Divine judgment. 3. He deals with the case from the practical rather than from the specidative side, representing it as an occasion for the exercise and display of the Divine power and goodness. (1) Our Lord carries it back into the sphere of the Divine counsel. (2) He represents God as bringing good out of evil. 4. Our Lord emphasizes the Divine necessity that engages him in this blessed work. " I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day : the night cometh, when no man can work." (1) This miracle occurred on the sabbath, probably on the evening of the day which was marked by his long dialogue with the Jews in the temple. He not only went about every day doing good, but every hour was devoted to a holy activity. 16 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1—41. (2) The moments were precious, because the work of his human activity was rapidly coming to an end. Our working season is at best a short season. " The night cometh " to end all. (3) His function as being " the Light of the world " imposed this incessant activity upon him. " As long as I am ia the world, I am the Light of the world." (a) Therefore the true Light cannot but shine upon the world's darkness. (h) And he is the only Agent to remove the physical and spiritual darkness that appealed to his compassion. a in. The method of the MjiiACLE. "When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him. Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." Why did our Lord act in this manner ? 1. Partly to test the faith of the blind beggar. 2. In all the cases of miracle involving the loss of connection with the world of sense, Jesus takes care to have personal communication e^ablished, so as to assure the sufferer of his presence and supply a fouuijalion for faith. (1) The deaf man cannot hear Christ's voice, but the momentary touch of his ear established the necessary communication. (2) The blind could not see the look of Divine compassion which others could see, but the clay or the spittle would be felt as indicating the presence of One whose words held out the hope of cure. (3) The means are, after all, though under a physical aspect, designed to affect the mental condition of the sufferer. IV. The success of the miracle. " He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing." 1. His ready obedience was a sign of his faith. 2. His faith in Divine power at once opened up to him a new world. The eye establishes between us and the world a nearer and wider communication than any other organ of sense. 3. Christ puts honour upon the exercise if true faith and obedience to his commands. V. The curiosity of the beggar's neighbours respecting the circumstances OP the miracle. " Is not this he that sat and begged ? Some said. This is he : others saiil, He is like him : but he said, I am he." 1. Some acknowledged his identity, but others tried to evade the fact of the miracle by affecting to doubt his identity. 2. They all alike laid stress upon the manner, not upon the fact, of the miracle. " How were thine eyes opened ? " 3. TJie beggar''s frank acknowledgment of all the facts. " The 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 washed, and I received sight." (1) He must have been previously familiar with Jesus, else he could not have known his name. His presence every day at the temple, as he begged of the passers-by, put him in the way of knowing much concerning the acts of Christ. (2) It is a proof at once of his faith and of his gratitude that he publicly confessed his obligations to the Saviour. 4. The effect of this declaration on his neighbours. " Then said they unto him. Where is he? He said, I know not." (1) Jesus had evidently disappeared at once from the scene, perhaps exhausted by the anxieties of his long conflict with the Jews in the temple. (2) The curiosity of the Jews to know where Jesus was was prompted more by hatred than by the desire to do him honour. Vers. 13 — 34. — The investigation of the miracle. This was prompted by the unfriendly questioners first referred to. I. The inquiry of the Pharisees. 1. Tney first examined the beggar as to the facts of his cure. These it was as impossible to ignore as it was difficult to explain. 2. The performance of the cure on the sabbath day was the pivot upon which the question turned. "Now it was the sabbath day that Jesus made the clay, and opened the eyes of this man." Of the three and thirty miracles of our Lord recorded in the Gospels, no less than seven were performed on the sabbath day, as if to show, in opposition to Pharisaic perversions, that works of mercy were essentially included in tlie sabbath law. II. The division among the Pharisees. " Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This Man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said. How can a bad man do such miracles? And there was a division among them." 1. The ill- conditioned party concede the truth of the miracle, but imply that it must have been done by the power of the evil one. They take their stand upon a false idea of the sabbath. 2. The friendly party, including men like Nicodemua and Josf,ph of Arimathxa, feel the difficulty of a bad man doing works of mercy and love through Divine power. The difficulty is ethical as well as theological. CH. Tx. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 17 III. The witness op the beggar himself. "They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes ? He said, He is a Prophet" 1. He does not hesitate to oppose the judgment of , the Pharisees in words that bespeak the firmest conviction. 2. He recognizes in the miracle the energy of Divine power, and in Jesits the character of a Representative of God. 3. How often a simple, unlettered believer sees what learned rahbis, or doctors, or synods, cannot see ! IV. The appeal of the Pharisees to the beggar's parents. 1, It was the suggestion of their unbelief " But the Jews did not bt.. .ve concerning him that he had been blind." Unbelief always seeks to justify itself in some way. None are so blind as those who will not see. 2. They expected that the parents, through fear of excommunication, u'ould either deny the identity of their son, or the fact of his blindness fro77i birth. 3. Mark the ivariness, yet the cowardice, of the parents. (1) They adhere strictly to matters of fact. They declare the identity of their son and his congenital blindness, but decline to commit themselves as to the method of cure, or as to the person who had effected it. (2) They devolve the responsibility of an answer as to the most critical point upon their son. " He is of age ; ask him." (3) Their caution is due entirely to fear. " These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews." The excommunication was a serious thing in a thoroughly ecclesiastical community. It entailed social disadvantages and discomforts, as well as exclusion from the religious privileges of the Israelite. V. A FRESH appeal TO THE BLIND BEGGAR. " Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the glory : We know'that this Man is a sinner." 1. They demand a denial of the miracle as in some sense essential to a right view of God's glory. (1) They desire to obliterate a fact by a false interpretation of the sabbatic law. (2) They regard the assertion of the beggar that Jesus was a Prophet as blasphemy, because it impeached at once God's truth and God's holiness. (3) The Pharisees represent themselves as the depositaries of theological knowledge, but assign uo reason for a conclusion adverse to Christ's claims. Their conduct is eminently unreasonable. They oppose fact to knowledge. 2. The answer to their appeal brings further discomfiture. " Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not : one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." (1) Thf beggar declines to settle theological problems. His reticence is wiser than the bold but groundless assertions of the Pharisees. (2) He takes his stand firmly upon fact. Once he was blind, now he sees. The difiSculty is on their side ; it is for them to explain it. The fact is without dispute, 3. The anger of the Pharisees. " Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples." (1) They confront unanswerable logic with the language of insult. (2) They oppose the authority of Moses — no doubt on the sabbath law — to that of Jesus. On the ground of their allegiance to Moses they reject the clearest evidences of Christ's Divine mission. " But if ye receive not Moses' writings, how can ye believe my words ? " (3) Mark the crushing rejoinder of the beggar. " Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes."' (a) The Pharisees claimed special knowledge to decide upon the authority of any one professing to be a prophet, yet they failed to give account of all the facts of the case, (b) The man asserts a fact of great theological import to settle the claims of Jesus : " Now we know that God heareth not sinners." (a) It is a fact based on Scripture teaching (Isa. i. 11 — 15; Ps. Ixvi. 18; cxix. 7). All men, no doubt, are sinners, but the Scripture statement applies specially to men living iu habitual sin and wiihout faith in God. (P) The privileges of believers are fully asserted. " But if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth." God hears the prayer of the man whose religion is both speculatively and practically true. (c) The miracle wrought in the present case was without parallel. " Since the world began wa.< it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind." No science or skill had ever effected a cure of this sort. Therefore there must have been superhnman and Divine power exercised in the operation. " If this Man were not of God, he could do nothing." Thus his general argument from Scripture and his con- clusion alike deny the assertion of the Pharisees that Jesus was a sinner. (4) The passionate abuse lavished on their critic. "Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thcfu teach us ? And they drove him out." (a) The Pharisees cast in his teeth the Qalajnity of his birth as a sign of special sin. They forget that they are inly, by their JOHN — IL 0 18 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1—41. act, acknowledging the reality of a miracle they had all along tried to evade or deny. (b) They are aghast at the assumption of a person under God's curse undertaking to teach theology to the recognized guides of Israel, (c) They expel him with an impatient contempt from their presence. Vers, 35 — 38. — ITie moral result of the miracle. The bodily cure is to lead to spiritual enlightenment. I. Jesus skeks out the outcast beggar for blessing. "And when he had found him, he said, Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? " 1. It is the office of the good Shepherd to seek out the sheep cast aivay, as if to fulfil the psalmist's words, " When my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord taketh me up." 2. Something more than miracle is needed to impart faith. He had been the subject of a bodily cure, but our Lord is now to make him the subject of spiritual illumination. Miracles alone cannot work faith. 3. The courageous fidelity of the man in the presence of the Pharisees makes him worthy of the greater blessing in store for him ; yet he is saved wholly by grace. 4. Mark the directness of our Lord's question. " Dost thou believe on the Son of God ? " (1) It could not be evaded or misunderstood. (2) The Object of faith was more than a prophet, more than the Messiah ; he was God's own Son, a Divine Person, the Author of eternal salvation. 5. Mark how our Lord leads him on to a clearer recog- nition of himself. The man asked, " Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him V " His faith was already looking out for its object. The answer is, "Thou hast both seen hira, and he it is that talketh with thee." The very Person who had given him restored sight, and who here honoured him by his conversation, was the Object of his faith. II. Mark how quickly faith follows on our Lord's words, how quickly CONFESSION follows ON FAITH, AND HOW QUICKLY WORSHIP FOLLOWS ON CONFES- SION. 1. Faith is based on knowledge. " Lord, I believe." The man receives Christ's testimony with alacrity, and accepts him as his Redeemer. 2. The confession is prompt, unhesitating, and enduring. 3. The worship is as sincere as the confession. They who believe in Christ for salvation will be sure to worship him. The worship of Christ is common to Christendbm. Vers. 39 — 41. — Moral result of Chrisfs coming into the world. The incident now ended suggests a wider reflection. I. The double result of Christ's advent. " I am come into this world to exercise judgment, that they which see not might see ; and that they that see should become blind." 1. The Son did not come for judgment, but judgment was the result of his coming. His advent tested the false and the true ; it revealed what was in the hearts of men ; it brought light into the darkness with two opposite results. 2. The twofold residt of the judgment. (1) As it affects those who " do not see " — that is, the ignorant, who are conscious of their spiritual blindness, and therefore ask for the light. They are made " to see." Light arises out of the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief, so that they realize all the fulness of life, righteousness, and faith. (2) As it affects those " who see " — who claim to have " the key of knowledge " (Matt. xi. 25), and are "confident that they are guides of the blind, lights of them which are in darkness" (Rom. ii. 11). Being unconscious of their real ignorance, they are judicially bliuded so that they should not see the truth. Being " wise and prudent," they despise the revelation of truth, and relapse into utter darkness, as the judgment of God upon their careless or hostile attitude toward the truth. II. The personal application of the test of judgment. " And those of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said to him. Are we also blind? " 1. 21ie question is dictated by the pride of sect, and by a touch of anger that they who were so learned should he classed with the ignorant rabble. 2. The answer of Jtsus is terribly severe. (1) He seems to say — Would God you were really blind! There might in that case be hope of light penetrating the darkness of your hearts. Conscious ignorance would be a preparation for saving knowledge. (2) But they were at once blind and unconscious of the fact. " But now ye say, We see." (3) This blindness was fatal, (a) They had no excuse for it. " If ye were blind, ye should have no sin." They were, therefore, witnesses against themselves, (b) Sin rested upon them because they were responsible for their blindness. CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN". 19 HOMILIES BY VAKIOUB AUTHORS. Vers. 1 — il. — The passage of a soul from darkness into light. This graphic and dramatic narrative begins with the healing of a bodily privation by the exercise of" Christ's miraculous power. But its chief interest lies in the spiritual process which it unfolds. It relates how a young man, poor and blind, but intelligent, candid, and brave, received spiritual as well as bodily illumination, and how he displayed insight in. apprehending Christ's character, courage in resisting Christ's adversaries, and gratitude in acknowledging Christ's claims. The several steps of this process deserve attentive' study. I. The commencement and the real explanation of the whole process is TO BE found in THE MERCY OF GoD. Our Lord gives what may be called the final cause of this man's blindness when he instructs his disciples that the intention of the' Creator was to be found in the opportunity afforded for the manifestation of the Divine energy and grace in the w'ork of restoration. It is well to look fur human explanations,- but it is better to receive, when they are afforded, such as are Divine. In studvinT the transformations of human character the wise man will look for the deepest reasons in the purposes of the Eternal. II The ATTENTION AND INTEREST OF THIS MAN WERE EXCITED BY JeSUS' COM- PASSION AND BENEFICENCE. Himself receiving a signal proof of Christ's pity in tho exercise on his behalf of Christ's healing power, the man could not fail to feel the charm of his Benefactor's character. In this the experience of many has been parallel with his. There are ever those who, seeing what Christ has effected for the benefit of humanity, and reflecting upon the advantages which have accrued to themselves through the work of Christ upon earth, are led to inquire into the gospel, and to ask what there is in the Saviour to account for the influence he has exerted over human society. "What he has done naturally leads to the inquiry, " Who is he? " III. The REFLECTION OF THIS MAN UPON THE MISSION OF ChRIST WAS FURTHER PROMOTED BY THE INQUIRIES OF HIS NEIGHBOURS. Those who had long been acquainted with him asked him of his own experience, asked him of his healer ; and such inquiries naturally led him to form more definite convictions. •♦ Truth, like a torch, the more 'tis shook it shines." Seasons of religious interest and inquiry often serve the purpose of compelling tho unsettled and undecided to endeavour at least to understand and to justify their own- position, IV. This man's convictions were cleared and his faith strengthened by OPPOSITION AND PERSECUTION. The fire that burns the dross purifies the gold. A weak nature may be harmed by adversity, terrified by threats, coerced by violence. But this man's best nature was brought out by contact with opposition. He was not, to be browbeaten. He turned round upon his persecutors, and put them in the wrong. Even their injustice in excommunicating him was unavailing ; he was gainin"- a spiritual standing from which he could smile at the threats and actions which were intended to dismay him. Often has it happened in the history of Christianity that times of persecution have strengthened and steadied the faith of true believers. Some of the noblest characters that have adorned the Church have been cradled in the storm. V. Circumstances and Divine teaching led this man from stage to stage of Christian belief. This appears in a very marked manner from the view he gradually came to take of his Benefactor. First he spoke of him as "a Man called* Jesus; " then he pronounced him to be "a Prophet; " later on he asserted him to be' "from God." He was following the light he had, and this is ever the way to fuller and clearer light. Thus he was led to take the final step, the natural result of those preceding. VI. This man's ardent faith and profound worship were called forth bt the interview he had with Jesus himself. There was already a candid and teachable disposition ; there was already an aflfectionate gratitude towards Jesus. It was caily needed that Christ should fully declare himself. And when he did this, it ia 20 THE GOSPEL ACCORDINa TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1—41. obserrable that the man restored to sight saw spiritually 'as well as physically. He beheld the Son of God standing before him ; he believed and worshipped. All that had gone before led up to this, and without this would have been incomplete. Now at length this once blind soul passed into the clearness and the fulnessof the light of heaven. Now he could say with reference to his spiritual state what he had before said of his earthly vision, "Whereas I was blind, now I see." — T. Ver. 3. — The fined cause of human suffering. No man, with an eye to observe and a beart to feel, can look abroad upon human life without being impressed and saddened by the spectacle presented to his view. There is so much of privation, of pain, of weariness, of disappointment, of distress, that it sometimes seems as if " the whole head were sick, and the whole heart faint." " Life," it has been said, " is a tragedy to those who feel." But men are so constituted that they cannot be satisfied to observe and to feel. They are compelled to think, and many are compelled to theorize. The prevalence of want and misery leads many to formulate a pessimistic philosophy, which accounts the evil in the world to exceed the good, and which seeks an explanation of the facts in the theory that there is no benevolent Deity, but that the supreme power in the universe is a brutal and unconscious Fate. This daring and blasphemous doctrine has, indeed, many advocates. But there are very many more who seek a less bold solution to the difficulty. It does not follow, because a speculation is comparatively modest, it is therefore sound. Our Lord's disciples faced the fact of human suffering, and. by suggesting an explanatory theory, which was altogether inadmissible, gave him an opportunity both of rejecting it and of offering an authoritative interpretation of the facts. I. Sin is ts a general view to be regarded as the cause op human privation AND suffering. Our Lord himself taught this on such occasions as that on which he said, " Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee." Experience and observation teach us that violation of the Divine laws impressed upon nature is the cause of very many of the hardships, pains, and calamities that befall mankind. The link between sin and suffering is forged and riveted by the hand of the Divine Governor of the universe. II. Men, whose knowledge is very limited, should be slow to attribute individual physical ills to individual sins. Sin as a whole is answerable for most of human evils, and many are the evils which devolve upon every generation as an inheritance. But we should often do injustice did we charge a man's sins, or the sins of his ancestors, with his bodily infirmities. Our Lord warned his disciples not to deem those Galilseans sinners above others, on whom the tower of Siloam fell. And he expressly exonerated both the blind man and his parents from responsibility for his affliction and privation. III. If we cannot always discover the efficient cause op human privation and suffering, we may accept our Lord's revelation of its final cause. There is a prevalent tendency of mind, especially among the scientific inquirers of our day, to disparage teleology. We are told to observe that a thing happens, to inquire how it h€4)pens, but not to venture into the speculation why it happens. Intention, design, are widely denied as the explanation of human actions, as the explanation of natural phenomena. Our Lord Jesus, the great Prophet, the Divine Eulightener of man, tells Bs that there is a reason for human infirmities and calamities. " That the works of God should be made manifest in him " — such was the reason why this man was born blind. Here opens up before our mental vision a vast field of inquiry and thought. For if this be so, then there is a purpose in physical evil, and that a moral purpose ; then it is permitted and appointed by God, the All-Merciful. Then God does concern himself alike with the existence and the alleviation or cure of such evil; then the works of our beneficent God may be made manifest in the case of even a lowly sufferer. Thus there opens up before us the possibility and the prospect that the world may come to be pjTvaded by the illumination of Divine love and pity, and by the radiance of a blessed and glorious hope. - ■ " And even pain is not in vain ; For out of discord springs a sweet harmonious strain, * T. CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 21 Ver. 4. — The day is for labour. Very instructive and very encouraging is the way in •which, in this passage, our Divine Lord associates his people with himself. In assuming our nature he accepted the ordinary conditions of our life, its duties and its limitations. Generally speaking, what no man could do he would not do ; what all men must submit to he would submit to also. Neither then nor now is he ashamed to call us brethren. As Son of man, he partakes both our nature and our lot. His Spirit and his language assure us of this. Accordingly, his experience is not merely something for us to admire ; it is for us so to ponder that we may share it. He partakes our conflict that we may partake his victory. In the words of the text these principles are made manifest, in their application to the "work" which gives meaning to human life. I. The character of the earthly service. The works themselves to which Jesus here referred were special. By "works" he undoubtedly intended miracles, signs, wonders — such deeds of power and mercy as that which the condition of the blind man suggested that he should perform for his benefit. But our Lord often spoke of his " work " in a more general sense ; and even here tliere is nothing exclusive of his spiritual ministry, to which this language certainly applies. This saying of Jesus casts light upon the character of the earthly service rendered by himself, and required of all his faithful disciples and followers. 1. Diligence is characteristic both of the Master and of his servants. No reader of the Gospels can fail to be impressed with the labori- ousness of Christ's public life. There were times when he had no leisure even to eat ; there never was a time when he neglected an opportunity of benevolence. Whether in teaching or in healing he was ever occupied, and occupied for purposes unselfish and brotherly. 2. His works were the proof of his ohedience. Our Lord evidently lived a life of devotion to the Father who " sent " him. He did not his own will, but the Father's. It was his meat to do the will of him who sent him, and to finish his work. His advent, his ministry, his death, were all proofs of his obedience. Though a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. How much more must sub- jection to the Father's will befit us, who are the creatures of his power, the subjects of his dominion ! It gives dignity to our life to feel that we too are sent into the world by God — that we are his messengers, his servants, his children, bound to do his behests, and to live as accountable to him. 3. Obligation characterizes all true service. Even the Son of God could say, " I must.'" On his jmrt there was no compulsion. He of his own accord undertook a life of consecration and sell-denial. What he did he " must needs " do, for the fulfilment of the Divine purposes, for tlie satisfaction of the benevolent yearnings of his own heart, and for the salvation of mankind. In our case there is a stringent moral obligation to serve GoJ. As creatures, we are bound to obey a righteous Maker ; as redeemed, emancipated freedmen, we are bound to glorify a Divine Deliverer. We are not our own. The duty that binds us to service is indeed a duty sweetened by grateful love, but a duty it cannot cease to be. II. The limitation of the earthly service. Our Lord condescended to accept the natural limits of human life. The day is for labour. Christ's day was from the dawn at Bethlehem to the evening on Olivet. There are those of his followers whose day is even shorter than his. There are many whose day is far longer. But in the case of every one of us there are limits which we cannot pass over. There are the " twelve hours " of the day, to which we cannot add. From this language we learn that the day, the period for our work on earth, is : 1. A prescribed, unalterable period. W^e cannot add a cubit to our stature, a year to our life. There is "an appointed time" for man upon earth. 2. A period during which the light still shines upon our path. If a man walk in the day he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of the world. Christians are favoured with the light of revelation — with the light of the Spirit given during the gosi>el dispensation. It is for them to walk and to work while the daj light lasts. 3. A period during which strength is unspent. The labourer toils until the lengthening shadows tell him that the day's work is approaching the close. He needs repose with evening, but until the evening his vigour enables him to continue his efi'orts. Whilst the Christian lives, God gives him power to serve. God is not a hard Taskmaster; his demands do not exceed his gifts. The voice from eternity that speaks with authority bids us "work while it is day." III. The special motive to the earthly service. "The night cometh, when no man can work." There has never been spoken by human lips anything more solemn, 22 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1—41. and at the same time more precious, than this. We all, when we think upon the matter, feel this declaration to be so indisputably true. Yet we are all prone to over- look, sometimes almost anxious to forget it. 1. Consider this reflection as bearing upon Christ himself. He knew that the end of his earthly life and ministry was near. But he knew also that much remained for him yet to do and to suffer. There was a work for him to accomplish whilst he was still in this world — a work which he must accom- jilish within the swiftly closing day, or not at all. His advanced and final lessons to Lis disciples, his last assertions of supernatural power, his crosvning revelation of majchtic meekness and patience, his mysterious sufferings, — these all had to be crowded into his last brief days. The cup had yet to be drained, the cross had yet to be borne. All must be finished before the twilight deepened into darkness. For the Father had given him all this to do ; and he would leave undone nothing that he had undertaken. 2. How powerfully does this reflection bear upon our own moral life! Every one of us who is alive to the real meaning of his existence, must feel, and does feel, that this short day of life is given us, not for pleasure, but for progress; not for ease, but for toil. If, through weakness and temptation, this feeling sometimes fails us, there is one effectual method of reviving it. " The night cometh ! " Venit nox ! There is much to be dime that must be done before the sunset of life's day, if it is not to remain undone for ever. Here or nowhere; now or never! That the future life will be a scene of service is not to be doubted. But earthly service must be rendered upon earth. Here the gospel must be embraced ; litre the new birth to spiritual realities must commence the life that is Divine. Now is the day of salvation. The earthly service must be rendered in this life. The voice comes, " Go, work to-day in my vine- yard." Neglect or refuse to obey that summons, and that piece of work will remain undone. Yet the time is very short, and night is very near. Labour, before the hand be palsied. Give, before the substance be beyond control. Speak, before the tongue be for ever silent. Do all as looking forward, onward, to the end. Application. Let the laborious remembtr that not all labour is wise and blessed. Work for self, and such work will be consumed in the fire that shall try all things. But work for God shall stand ; no power can destroy it. Let the indolent remember that time unredeemed can only witness against them at the last. Let the young remember that, if a lengthened day be given them, the greater will be their responsi- bility and the larger their opportunity of commending themselves as faithful labourers to the just and gracious Master. Let the aged remember that, near as is night for them, they have a witness yet to bear, and a memory of inspiration to leave behind. " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." — T. Ver. 25. — Spiritual sight contrasted with spiritual blindness. In this instance, as in many others, the miracle is also the parable. The whole narrative is full of spiritual teaching and beauty. The candour and sagacity of the man who received his sight from Jesus are evident in the witness he bore — witness to what was within his own experience, witness which none other was so competent to bear as he. All who have felt Christ's spiritual power will adopt this language. Whatever they know not, this they know, that, whereas they were blind, now they see. I. The spiritual blindness of sinful men. 1. This is compatible with keenness of natural vision and of intellectual discernment. Men " having eyes, see not." It is marvellous how far-sighted people may be in worldly afi"airs, and yet may lack spiritual vision. 2. It evinces itself in privation : (1) Of true knowledge — the know- ledge of self, and, above all, the knowledge of God. (2) Of Divine guidance. In great darkness the blind man is led, not knowing whither he goeth. The spiritually unen- lightened sees not the way of life, of safety. (3) Of heavenly joys. Sight is the occa- sion of much natural pleasure; and they who see not Divine realities know nothing of the highest delights of which the soul is capable. 3. It is unconscious of its owu loss. As the blind from birth are, whilst in their blindness, utterly unable to conceive how much they lose, so those whom the god of this world hath blinded say, " We see," and know not that they are blind and miserable. II. The mission of Christ to give sight to the spiritually blind. 1. Observe the motive which animated him in the fulfilment of this beneficent work. It was pity. Common humanity pities the naturally blind; Divine love commiserates those who OH. IS. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 23 lack spiritual vision. 2. The poiver that effects this marvellous change. The poor maa \i[)oxi whom Christ wrouglit this miracle justly argued that his Benef\ictor must possess Divine authority. Spiritual enlightenment is the prerogative of God. He "hath shined into our hearts." And we are justified in attributing to a Divine Saviour the many glorious miracles of spiritual illumination wiiich our Lord has wrought for men. 3. The means by which Christ works. The provision of the gospel dispensation is all-sufficient for this purjwse. On the side of man, there is faith exercised by the sufferer in the Healer, without which no soul is opened to the heavenly rays. On the side of God, there is the illumining Spirit, whose agency is indispensable, who sheds forth the light, and who cleanses tlie spiritual organ, and renders it susceptible to the quickening, celestial beams. 4. The manner of this enlightenment. It is immediate, thorough, and enduring. II L The snuiTUAL sight which Christ confers. The exclamation, "Now I see! " was an indication of present experience, and an earnest of future development. Christ, in bestowing the gift of spiritual vision, opens the eyes: I. To self and sin. 2. To God himself — his attributes and his purposes. 3. To the meaning of life — its realities and opportunities. 4. To the unspeakable privileges of the Christian calling. 5. To the unseen realities of eternity. Application. The language of the man who received his sight is especially encouraging to those who are troubled in their mind because they have not consciously undergone changes of which others speak with confidence. It is neither the process, nor the time, nor the mode of enlightenment, which is of supreme importance. It is the fact that the change has taken place. Our natural state is one of spiritual blind- ness. If " now we see," then we have reason for rejoicing, and for grateful acknow- ledgment of our Saviour's healing mercy. — T. Yer. 27. — An apjieal for disciples. Admirable, indeed, were the hearing and the language of this poor man when in the presence either of Jesus or of the Pharisees. When confronted by the Lord's enemies, he was not worsted in the discussion, and he was silenced only by violence. If there was a shade of irony in this appeal, still there was justice in it. The language is such as may well be addressed, by those who have benefited by Christ and have attached themselves to Christ, to all whom their influence may reach. I. The character of this discipleship. There was reason in the designation "•disciple," as applied to all who attached themselves to the Lord Jesus. Observe : 1. The Master and his lesson. Christ is supremely able to teach. There may be learned (1) wisdom from his lips; (2) holiness from his life; (3) love and pardon from his cross ; (4) obedience from his throne. 2. The scholar and his spirit. On the part of him who would be Christ's true pujul, there must be (I) reverence for the Master's authority; (2) diligence in the stutly of his character, his words, and his life; (3) subjection to all commands, however this submission may involve self-denial ; (4) perseverance in application to Divine lessons. II. The hixuraxces to this discipleship. There may be observed, as militating against such pupilage : 1. Pride, which flatters men that they need no teaching, that they are a sufficient lesson and law to themselves. 2. Irreligion, which assures men that other mnsters are as good as Christ, that there is no special faculty to instruct and to govern residing in him rather than in others who claim obedience. 3. Unspirituality, which too readily suggests that Christ's teaching is too holy, that his standard of goodness is too high, (or human attainment. By these several formidable obstacles multitudes are kept from resorting to Jesus in that reverent, lowly, and teachable temper of mind which alone can secure their enlightenment and salvation. III. The motives to this discipleship. 1. It is our nature and our need to learn. 2. None is so able to instruct us as is the great Teacher, the Divine Master, 3. To stand aloof Irom his teaching is to remain ignorant of what it most concerns us to know. 4. Christ is willing to receive and to welcome us into his school. There is no need, in order to become his disciples and to learn of him, to abandon lawful avocations; no need to dispense with human teachers who are not rivals to Jesus. The door of the school is open, and the great Master is waiting and ready. Application. 1. A question to answer for yourselves, " Will ye also be his dis- 24 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [en. li. 1—41. ciples ? " It is not the first time this question has been put to the hearers of the gospel; it is urged once again. It is not too early for any to begin discipleship. And it is not too late for any who may have delayed hitherto, now to respond to the summons. 2. A question to propose to others. This is the invitation which the Church is bound to address to the world. If one who had been a poor blind beggar could urge it upon his superiors ; if he could speak for Jesus, though persecuted for his boldness ; ■why should any Christian be deterred from witnessing and appealing to his fellow-men, either by the sense of his own unwoithiness and insufficiency, or by the seeming unsuit- ableness and insensibility of those to whom the appeal is made ? — T. Ver. 33.-3^6 attestation of Ohrisfs works to his Divinity. The natural good sense of the man born blind was sharpened by the experience through which he passed, and by the controversy in which he was involved. Hence it was that several of his sayings anticipate the mature arguments of the most thoughtful defenders of the Christian faith. The manner in which he here argues from the character of our Lord's works to his Divine commission and authority, is deserving of all admiration. This is an argu- ment as valid as, and perhaps more effective now than, when it was first spontaneously propounded. I. The spiritual character op Christ's work proves his Divixe origin and POWER. God is a Spirit ; the realm of spirit is that which is to him of deepest interest. It is evident that if the Son of God has visited earth, it must have been in order to introduce principles of vitality and blessing into the spiritual existence of men. This is exactly what Christ has undeniably been doing. To him men owe the enlighten- ment of the mind by spiritual truth ; the new law of moral life ; the new motive of Divine love; the great distinctive social principle of self-denying benevolence; the effective consolation for human sorrow ; the true encouragement for those tempted to depression and hopelessness ; the glorious ptospect of the spiritual renewal of mankind; the mighty inspiration owing to the revelation of an immortal life. II. The incomparable efficiency with which this work was done is proof op Christ's Divine origin and authority. To appreciate this, we should compare the work of Christ with that of others, e.g. with that of the most renowned of earth — con- querors and kings, sages and religious leaders. How meagre their sway ! how transitory their dominion ! How rapidly have they become merely a memory, a name ! On the other hand, what moral significance has characterized the work of the Lord Jesus ! During his ministry, what transformations of character he wrought, what extreme and desperate cases of sin and wretchedness he successfully dealt with ! And, after his asicension, " greater works " than these — which were yet equally his works — accompanied the preaching of his gosp.'l. Well might Julian the apostate exclaim, Vicisti, Oalilxe I "Well might Napoleon acknowledge that the empire of Christ transcended all earthly monarchies in true and lasting solidity and glory. If this Man were not of God, could such results have attended and followed his earthly mission — fulfilled, as it was, upon a scene so limited, in a period so brief, and in circumstances so lowly ? III. The wide extent of our Lord's work is evidence of his Divinity. Even during his three years of labour, Jesus brought blessing, not to Israelites alone, but to Samaritans, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Piomans. And when Pentecost inaugurated the mission of the Church, then the descent of the Spirit and the utterances in many tongues were a prediction of a universal religion. The middle wall of partition was broken down. One new humanity was fashioned from diverse and seemingly discordant materials — from Jews and from Gentiles. And Christianity has from that time onward been proving its adaptation to man as man — to the barbarian and the civilized, to the East and the West, to persons of all ages, ranks, and characters. The Son of man is proving himself to be the Saviour of man. IV. The Divine authority of Christ is supported by the perpetuity and by THE ever-growing PREVALENCE OP HIS WORKS. Other systsms are for a period, for a generation, or for a century ; " they have their day, and cease to be." But Christ's mighty works go forward as in an unbroken and ever-swelling procession, testifying to their Author. His power to save and bless is as yet undiminished, and it is reasonable to believe it to be inexhaustible. " This Man " has done, and is doing, all this ! Who can he be but the Son of the Eternal ? — T. cn.is.l— n.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 25 Vers. 35 — 38. — A heart made ready for faith. In this interview the purposes of Christ's love with regard to this poor man were fully accomplished. The opening of his bodily eyes, the trials to which ho was afterwards subjected, led up to the con- summation desired by his Benefactor. By gradual stages he had come to that point, at which only a fuller revelation of the Lord was required, in order that his faith n>jght be perfected. I. A MOMENTOUS QUESTION ROUSES INTEEEST AND HOPE. The man whose cycs had been opened had already acknowleged Jesus to be a Prophet. And now he, whoso claims had hitherto been but partially understood, was about to advance them in such a manner as to elicit a full comprehension and a full admission of them on the part of the discii'Je. Startled indeed must the poor man have been by the question, " Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" This language opened up before his mind a new vision, to behold which needed indeed a new illumination. It is clear that the man whose sight was restored had begun to see with the eyes of the spirit. Was he now prepared to owe all to Jesus — to see all in Jesus ? II. The question is met by an inquiring, candid mind, and by a keady heart. 1. An incHnation to receive teaching is apparent in the inquiry, "Who is he?" 2. A reverential submission to the qualified Instructor may perhaps be discerned in his deferential manner of addressing his Benefactor — " Lord ! " 3. A resolve to follow out the dictates of reason and conscience is evident in the language, *' that I might believe on him." Let him but know the Divine, and he would hasten to present his homago and his faith. III. The Divine Saviour reveals himself. 1. He declares that he is already actually seen and known. The Son of God, who was seen by the man whose eyes were opened, is, in a sense, seen and known, through his incarnation and advent, by all to whom his gospel comes. 2. He condescends to stoop to the level of our caj^acity and fellowship. He " talketh with " all who are willing to listen to his words, to welcome his conversation and counsel. There is marvellous condescension and grace in the revelation which Jesus makes of himself to all who are disposed to direct the eye of the soul to his presence, the ear of the soul to his voice. IV. Tee eager response of faith and worship. The unhesitating confidence and confession here recorded were not unreasonable. Many causes concurred in bringing about this spiritual attitude. The benefit the man himself had received, no doubt dis- posed him to give his favourable attention to every representation made by Jesus of himself. But the miracle was itself, at all events to him, conclusive evidence of the superhuman authority of his Benefactor. The queries, denunciations, and reproaches of the Pharisees had made him think more profoundly upon the mission, the character, perhaps even the nature, of Jesus. And thus, when the Lord advanced his Divine claim, the poor man was prepared, not only to admit that claim, but to welcome and to rejoice in it. He could not suspect such a Being of vain egotism or of falsehood. There was but one alternative. Jesus was what he declared himself to be — the Son of God. And, this being the case, what more natural and reasonable than his confession and his conduct ? He believed ; he worshipped. Less than this would not have been justifiable; more than this would not have been possible. For in his implicit confidence and in his devout homage this poor man anticipated the action of the Church of Christ throughout all time. Convinced by his own works of the justice of his claims, Christ's people delight to confess his lordship and to live to his glory, — T. Ver, 39. — Enlightening and blinding power. Christ's first coming to this world was not for judgment, but for salvation. Yet it appears, again and again in the course of his ministry, that judgment was a necessary incident of his teaching and authoritative action. By him " the thoughts of many hearts were revealed." There was a virtue of moral discrimination and separation in his ministry of which ho himself was well aware. Hence his assertion that whilst he brought sight to some who were blind, the result of his coming was that some who boasted that they saw were jiroved to bo spiritually blind, I. Christ's enlightening power. 1. This power was exercised for the benefit of the ignorant, the sinful, the helpless. The blind man, whose story is told in this chapter, is an example. He needed not only physical but spiritual sight. His know- 26 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1— 41. ledge was very limited ; but it was in his favour that whatever knowledge he had, he used aright. The blindness which befell Saul of Tarsus, in the crisis of his spiritual history, was symbolical of that imperfection of spiritual vision of which he only became conscious when Christ met him by the way. These two examples are from two opposite extremes of society. 2. This power was exercised by the communication of truth, accompanied by the influences of the enlightening Spirit. Gradually did Jesus reveal himself to the man born blind; by signs, by words, by his own gracious character. 'J bus did light enter into that hitherto obscure nature, and penetrate all its recesses. A heavenly influence called forth faith and reverence, gratitude and love. The mission of the Messiah, as foretold by the prophet, included the recovering of sight for the sjiiritually blind — a beneficent service which the Lord Jesus has been rendering from the time of his earthly ministry onwards until now. In his light his people learn to " see light." II. Christ's blinding power. 1, Although our Lord says that he came "that they which see might become blind," it must not be supposed that this was the aim of our Lord's mission to earth, in the same sense as were the diffusion of Divine light and the impartation of spiritual vision. He said on one occasion that he came, not to send peace on earth, but a sword ; yet we know that the main object of his coming was that peace might prevail, although one necessary consequence of his work would be that men should be divided against one another. 2. The explanation of the blinding result of the Saviour's ministry is to be found in the action of a law dixinely appointed, according to which those who have good brought near to them, and who are indifferent to that good, have their indifference intensified into hatred. Neglect of privilege leads to deprivation of privilege. It is said that organisms secluded for generations from the light of day lose the organ of sight. So is it in spiritual relations. Such was the case with those Pharisees who boasted of their spiritual discernment, but who in fact loved darkness rather than light, and abode in darkness until their spiritual vision was quenched in blindness and the night of impenetrable gloom. — T. Vers. 1 — 7. — The blind man and the sight-giving Saviour. Notice this blind man — I. In relation to the disciples. 1. To them he was a notorious object of retributive justice. His blindness they regarded as a special punishment for some particular sin ; they looked upon him, as Lot's wife of old, as a standing monument of iniquity, only with this difference, he was alive, bearing his punishment on this side. Their notion is, upon the whole, correct. Sin is punished, and sometimes in this world. 2. An object of speculative curiosity. Suggesting a problem not easily solved, and a difficulty which they wish to be removed. In the light of popular Jewish teaching and also in that of heathen teaching the difficulty stared them. Of one thing they were certain, that his blindness was a retributive punishment for sin — the sin of his parents or that of his own. But which ? That it should be on account of the sins of his parents they could easily understand ; but if on account of his own, how could this be when he was born blind ? 3. An advantageous object to present the question for solution to Jesus. I'he blind man was probably well known to them, and they had often before discussed this aspect of his blindness, with various results; but now here is an opportunity of a final solution of the difficulty. They have full confidence in Jesus' ability and readiness to clear the matter for ever, and they lost no time, but asked, "Master, which did sin," etc.? 4. An object who did not excite in them any practical sympathy. They regarded him as the religious teachers of the nation generally would regard him — as the child of sin, a monument of retributive justice, a subject for curious speculation ; and, as far as they were concerned, they would leave him with feelings of proud contempt, and satisfaction with their own state as compared with his. II. In relation to Jesus. 1. To him he was an object ivho attracted his special attention. " As he passed by, he saw a man," etc. How many passed by without seeing him at all, and how many saw him. with indifference ! And probably the disciples did not notice him before they saw the Master's attention fixed upun him. He saw him first, and saw him as no one saw him before. He had many eyes fixed upon him, but never such as these ; he had many a gaze from passers-by, but not one containing such feelings, sentiments, and meaning as the one which was on him now. 2. To him he was not an object of retributive justice, but a specially befitting one on CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN, 27 uitom to manifest Divine operations. While fully admitting the law of retribution, he exc'udes this case from the category, and at once removes the disciples' question (a) from tlie speculative to the practical, (b) from the human standpoint to the Divine. And although the blindness of this man could not be viewed entirely apart from sin, yet to Christ it appeared as a special occasion to manifest Divine operations. (1) The operation of Divine mercy. Where there is no misery, no mercy is needed ; and the greater the misery, the greater and Diviner the mercy which relieves. This was a special case of human misery, advantageous to a special display of Divine mercy. The man was blind from his birth. (2) Tlie operation of Divine power. Where human skill is helpless, the power which helps must be Divine. To restore this man to sight no human doctor could, nor even would sincerely make the attempt. His restoration was evidently and gloriously the work of God. (3) The operation of Divine grace. He had a mind requiring enlightenment, a soul in need of salvation, and this popular child of sin presented a glorious opportunity for the display of redeeming grace. (4) In this man Divine operations uere signally mnnifested. God works continually, in giving sight to men at first, and in an infinite variety of ways, but his operations are unseen and unobserved ; but in this man they shine and blaze, so that all must see them but the totally bbnd. They were manifested to the man himself, and through bim to others. (5) This man restored by Christ was a most convincing and attractive specimen of Divine operations. He was so well known as being helplessly blind from his birth, and was now about to be even better known as perfectly restored by Jesus. Thus he who was popularly thought to be a monument of sin and its terrible con- sequences, becomes the popular monument of Divine power, the convincing specimen of Divine mercy, and the notorious advertisement of redeeming grace in Christ. Still, he was only a specimen, extraordinary only in the manifestation, but quite ordinary in the course of Divine operations. It is only the work of God, what he ever performs in Christ. 3. To Christ this man was an ohject ivho vividly reminded him of his missioii on earth. (1) As a mission of real and untiring activity. "I must work," etc. (2) As a mission involving a great variety of activities. "The works." Not one or a few, but many and various — as various as the physical and spiritual wants of the human family. (3) As a mission which is Divine and representative in its character. " The works of him," etc. He never forgot the Divine and representative character of his mission, involving special duties, obligations, and resjwnsibilities in relation to him who sent him. (4) As a mission which must be performtd in due season. "While it is day," etc. He had only a day, and with regard to his earthly life this was short. Even in this hour of his triumph and brilliancy, in giving sight to the blind man, he was reminded of its brevity. This very act hastened the approaching night. Those who shine brighily on the night of the wicked world cannot exjiect a long day. (5) As a mission in which his disciples had to share. " We " (the proper reading) " must work," etc. The Master and the disciples were one, and their mission one. He came not only to work himself, but also to teach them to work. They were as yet apprentices, but now it was time to begin to break them in under the yoke and remind them of their duty, and all the more as day was diav\ing to a close. (G) As a mission the necessity of its fulfilnient was fdt by him with increasing force. " We must," etc. Tliis came from his Divine conmussion, from human woe, from the greatness and importance of the work, and the brevity of the time. From above, around, and friim within came the inspiration of his work, which found ajipropriate expression in "We must work," etc. 4. To Jesus this man was an ohject on ivhom he icould give a practical illustration of hl-i mission. "When he had .spoken these things," etc. The .^^ptech ended in action, and the action was in perfect keeping with the speech — a grand but most natural ami touching jieroration. Christ taught hisdisciides by practical illustrations. The miracle was a full answer to their question, and a practical specimen of his mission. (1) Means were used in the performance of the miracle. Sometimes he would exorcise his Divine jx»wer without the use of means at all, even without a word, only the fiat of his will ; but here very lew words are used — it is all action. " I must work." (2) The means used were in themselves utterly inadequate to prodtice the ultiimite end. Chiy and spittle and washing in the pool of Siloam. These rrieans, however efficacious in popular esteem, were utterly futile to give the man his sight. (3) These means, nevertheless, were suitable to answer the end Jesus had in view. He knew when and when not to 28 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1— 43. use means, and knew as well what means to use. He never thought that these would bring the man to see outwardly, but they would help him to see inwardly. They served best to strengthen his faith and give due publicity to the miracle. He could not go to and return from Siloam without attracting attention. Jesus caused every movement to serve some useful purpose ; thus the man began at once to manifest the works of God. (4) The faithful use of the prescribed means answered the ultimate end of Divine mercy and human want. The man's faith was strong and prompt. He was not promised his sight, only told what so do; the rest he inferred. He believed and obeyed, and the Divine energy came with the obedience. He washed, and came seeing. He was born first blind, he was born now seeing, and some saw the Divine glory flashing from his eyes. Lessons. 1. TJiere are full compensations for all evil in the Divine economy. If there is misery, there is Divine mercy. If some are bom blind, their blindness will answer some benevolent purpose. There is One born to help and give sight. Evil must ultimately serve goodness, and misery must glorify mercy. Divine compensations are seen now, but to a greater extent hereafter. 2. The fact of human sin and misery is not for curious speculation but for practical sympathy. The life of Christ was one of benevolent activity rather than of idle speculation and theory. What right-minded man, when a house is on fire, will stop to know its cause before doing all in his power to put it out ? Eather thau idly inquiring into the origin and mystery of human evU and misery, by every possible eifort let sin be destroyed, and misery and sorrow be alleviated, and with and after the eSbrt will come satisfaction, and ultimately full light. 3. God answers better than we ask. Our requests may be idle and wron^r, but the answers are right and Divine. Still let us ask, and our mistakes will be rectided in the Divine answers. We are glad that the disciples asked respecting the man's blindness. The full reply is found in Christ's miracle of Divine mercy and might. 4. The humblest means are not to he despised if prefcribed by Christ. From the human side Divine means are apparently very inadequate, and even contemptible. The spittle and clay and washing in the pool of Siloam for Jesus and the blind man were very humble beginnings, but led to a glorious result. Faithful use of divinely prescribed means were the channel through which Divine energy came to the man which resulted in his sight, and through the same channel of faith and obedience Divine illumination will ever come to the soul. — B. T. Vers. 29 — 34. — A noble defence. Notice — I. A MARVELLOUS IGNORANCE. " Why herein is a marvellous thing," etc. Their ignorance of the origin and history of Jesus was marvellous considered in reference to the persons themselves. Ignorant : (a) While they really knew so much. The sum of their general religious knowledge must be considerable. (6) While they professed and were supposed to know so much. They professed to know all about the Divine communica- tions to Moses ; professed to know the less, but profoundly ignorant with regard to the greater, (c) While they ought to know so much. From their religious traiuing and position as the religious leaders of the people, they ought to know much. Their ignorance was marvellous when considered in relation to the case before them, very marvellous indeed in the light of the following considerations so lucidly and cogently brought under their notice by the man that was blind. 1. The testimony of the miracle. (1) The miracle was an u?iquestionable fact. As proved by the man himself^ by his parents, by his neighbours; and the genuineness of the miracle was admitted by the council. (2) It was an unquestionable fact, unquestionably involving the exercise of Divine power. This was generally admitted. Admitted by the opponents themselves, " Give glory to God." (3) The Divine power was unquestionably exercised by Christ. " He opened mine eyes." This connects him most intimately with the Source of Divine power, if it does not point to him as that Source. 2. The usual way of God's impar- tation of his Divine power. (1) It was imparted in answer to prayer. This was the law by which God's extraordinary power was imparted to the prophets and seers of old. In answer to prayer. (2) It was imparted only in answer to the prayer of the devotional and obedient. Notorious sinners are not in the habit of prayer, and their prayers as such would not be answered. If they prayed so as to be answered, they would cease to be notorious sinners. " God heareth not sinners : but if any man be the worshipper," CH.IX. 1— 41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 29 etc. (3) This nile of Divine impartation of power was well and generally known, " We know," etc. As if he were to say, " Even I know this, much more you." (4) Ignorance of the Divine character and origin of Christ was marvellous. " Ho opened mine eyes." 3. 77ie uniqueness of the miracle. (1) It was unique in relation to (he general experience of that age. Such a miracle was never witnessed by any one present, nor by any one then living. (2) Unique in relation to the oral and ivritten history of the world. "Since the world began was it not heard," etc. History, oral or written, ancient or modern, does not furnish such an instance of Divine power in sight-giving as this. (3) Unique in relation to the miraculous performance of the great men of the past. As compared with theirs, it stands alone and sina;ular. " It was not heard that any man." Jewish history could boast of the names of great men who through God performed works of wonder and might ; but this eclipsed them all. Not even INIoses nor Elijah performed such an act with regard to sight. (4) Unique in hs peculiar character arid originality. An equal amount of power had been displayed before, but not in the same way. Defective sight had been restored, and total blindness had been removed ; but never a man who had been born blind had his eyes opened. This was reserved for Jesus. This original and nevf miracle was reserved for a new dispensation — a dispen- sation of spiritual insight and Divine illumination. And if Christ was a sinner, he was more original, eminent, and Divine than the most illustrious and boasted saints of all past ages. 4. The temporal circumstances of Christ. These were such as to be most unfavourable to impress the public and gain a personal reputation. Temporal circum- stances are generally favourable and productive of this. Such as : (1) An illustrious lineage. To come down upon society in the splendour of an illustrious descent goes far with it. But this Jesus did not. He appeared as the Son of Joseph and Mary. True, he descended from David ; but this was scarcely known, and the connection was so distant that the effect would be little. (2) Great wealth. This has a great influence. This Jesus had not. He was the reputed Son of a poor carpenter, and was a poor Carpenter himself, and as such appeared before the public and was known by them. (3) The patronage of the great. This goes very far in gaining popularity and reputa- tion. But Jesus had not this. From his first public appearance the aristocratic element of the nation was against him, and the social and religious leaders of the people were his deadly foes. (4) The fame of learning. This is a most powerful element of success ; but Jesus had not this. He was not brought up in any of the celebrated schools of his nation, nor sat at the feet of any illustrious rabbi. It is not known that he ever enjoyed the advantage of any school besides that of home, and he was notorious as a Teacher who had no human learning. From the poor village and the common workshop he emerged as the teacher of his nation. All his outward circumstances were against him, so that it was well said, "If this man were not of God, he could do nothing." But, in spite of his disadvantage, his doings far eclipsed those of his most eminent predecessors, which plainly and irresistibly leads to the inference of the man that was born blind that he was of God — he was indeed Divine. II. The most obstinate religious bigotry. Their marvellous ignorance was the offspring of the heart rather than of the head, of the will rather than the understanding. It was the offspring of the most obstinate religious bigotry whose character their conduct here reveals. 1. As most hitter in spirit. " Thou wast altogether," etc. This language is : (1) Most slanderous. A slander on the man, on his parents, on the Creator who made him, and on the Saviour who healed him. The charge was not true. (2) Extremely mean. To upbraid the man with a calamity for which he was not responsible, and to rake up in his breast the painful reminiscences of a misery which he had so long endured, but which happily now had passed away. (3) Most irrelevant. It is not to the point. What mattered it whether the man was born in sins or not? That had nothing to do with the fact of the miracle, and the character and claims of him who had performed it. 2,. As most provid in spirit. "And dost thou teach us ?" The spirit evinced here is : (1) Most contemptuous. " Dost thou," etc. ? Contempt of all who dare to differ from their opinion is characteristic of bigots. This man not only differs from the council but teaches them ; their contempt is unbounded. (2) Most proudly self-satisfying. "Teach us!" (3) Most unphilosophic and unprogressive. What philosopher worthy of the name would disdain to listen with respect to one who was the object of such a wonderful operation, in whose eyes were still rays of Divine light, and in whose soul 30 THE GOSPEL ACCORDINa TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1— 41, was still burning the inspiration of such an experience ? Where is the man in his right mind who would' not listen with attention and due deference to such a tale? The members of the JeMrish council listened with consummate pride and seething contempt, proving themselves to be most unphilosophic, ungodlike, unprogressive, and blind to the greatest and most brilliant light. 3. As most intolerant in spirit. " And they cast him out." And for what? For exercising the right of private judgment, and respectfully expressing his honest convictions and defending the truth. Their conduct was: (1) Most weak. Mentally and morally weak. They could not refute his arguments nor stand the light. (2) Most unreasonable and unjust. A Church has a right to exclude those who are immoral, and violating its fundamental principles. But this was not the case here. A coming Messiah was the most fundamental doctrine of the Jewish Church. This man was excluded for accepting him. (3) Most cruel. (4) Most fatal. When a Church begins to persecute, it begins to cease to exist ; when it excludes the light of truth, it cannot last long. — B. T. Vers. 35 — 38. — A Jiappy meeting. We have in this passage — I. Jesus in search for the outcast. 1. He had lost sight of him for a ivhile. He had not seen him since he went on the path of duty and obedience to the pool of Siloam. It was well that they should be apart for some time. Important purposes were thus answered. But neither Jesus nor the man was idle. Jesus was about his Father's business ; and the man that had been blind, according to Christ's statement, was busily manifesting the works of God. Establishing the miracle and pointing to the claims and Divinity of its wonderful Performer. 2. Jesus sought him. If out of sight, he was not out of niind. " Jesus heard that," etc. He listened for him ; his ear was on the watch for intelligence respecting him. If you listen attentively you will hear soon. Jesus sought him in distress, when his need was greatest. 3. He found him. " Seek, and ye shall find." Jesus knew this law and obeyed it. No one sought so sure to find as he. He never gave up the search till it resulted in finding, whether for the lost piece of silver or for the wandering sheep. Why did he seek this man ? (I) There was a fellow-feeling. He heard that they had cast him out. By the law of sympathy he looked out for him. He was an outcast from the synagogue himself; he had now a companion. (2) The man sought him. We are not told this by the recorder, but we know it. He was full of Christ since he had received his sight. He could scarcely see nor talk of anything else. His mind and heart yearned for him. Especially now in his distress and persecution. (3) Jesus was anxious to succour and help him. To give him his soul's want and his heart's desire — what would make him satisfied and happy. He knew that he needed and desired a spiritual Guide and a Saviour, and he hastened to give to him himself. Jesus is a Friend in need, and the need of the guilty and weary soul. II. Jesus' demand fob faith. " Dost thou believe," etc. ? 1. TTiis is the reason- able and natural demand of the miracle. Faith in its great Performer. It was a Divine act of mercy, and was eminently calculated to inspire faith — to open the eye of the soul to see the spiritual, the eternal, and the Divine. Christ looked out for fruit after cultivation and sowing. 2. A most worthy Object of faith is introduced. "The Son of God." The human soul should have an object of faith suitable to its spiritual condition and wants, and worthy of its native dignity and high capacities. Such an Object is here introduced — the Son of God, who also is the Son of man, whom i'aith can grasp, and being grasped will elevate the soul and fill it with satisfaction and joy. 3. A simple test of adherence is only required. " Dost thou believe," etc. ? The memory is not taxed, the understanding is not burdened, but the willing acceptance of the heart, or faith, is made the test of adherence and the bond of union. It is very simple and easy, and yet most effective. " Dost thou believe? " — that is all. III. Faith in prayer. This was the prayer of faith inspired by the demand of Jesus. 1. The prayer is to the proper object. " Lord." Although the man's knowledge of Jesus was limited, yet he knew sufiicient to appeal to him for more light. He felt confident that he who opened his eyes could and would give him greater illumination still. 2. The prayer is for a necessary revelation. "Who is he?" The elementary exercise of faith requires some elementary knowledge of its object. We are not expected to believe on a Saviour we know nothing or but little of. Christ requires faith, and faith OH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 81 requires knowledge, and no sooner is it born than it begins to ask questions respecting its object, and the first is, " Who is he? " He is worth inquiring after. The choice of the object of faith is most important ; this man very properly prays for light to choose. 3. The prayer is 'made in the proper spirit. The spirit of reverence, importunity, and readiness to believe and accept. " Who is he, that I might believe ? " Not that I might consider and think over it ; but let me know the Son of God, and I will believe in him. He prayed for knowledge for a practical and for the highest purpose— to believe. IV. Faith's prayer answered. 1. It tuas answered at once. The man was fortunate enough to ask the question respecting the Son of God, " Who is he ? " to the Son of God himself, and who could answer it so well and so readily. There is no delay in the transmission of the prayer, nor in the return of the reply. The prayer was eager, and the answer quick. 2. The answer was very modest. " Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that," etc. Modesty is ever characteristic of true greatness, and was charac- teristic of Jesus. Often he preferred the third person to the first in speaking of himself. In heavenly and Divine society he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but in the form of a servant he naturally felt and manifested the modesty of a servant, especially in revealing to the soul his real glory and position as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. Genuine faith feels modest in the presence of its genuine oliject, and its genuine object feels modest in the presence of genuine faith. The mutual recognition produces the natural and modest blush of virgin love. 3. The ansiver revealed the Son of God as nearer to the man than he perhaps expected. We say " perhaps," for there was but a thin veil between him and the full recognition of Jesus. Doubtless be believed him already to be the greatest prophet that ever lived, but had not as yet known him as the Son of God and the promised Messiah, and scarcely expected to find him so near. Faith often finds its object nearer than expected. When faith is intense and eager, the Son of God, the Saviour, is present then, and reveals himself. V. Faith's confession. 1. It is very prompt. If Christ's revelation of himself surprised the man at all, the surprise was most agreeable and sweet. The revelation did not damage the interest of Jesus nor retard the movements of faith, but rather- improved the one and hastened the other. There was not a moment's hesitation, but straight and swift as an arrow's course faith flew to embrace and confess Jesus as the Son of God and her sovereign Lord. " Lord, I believe." 2. It is very short. All the questions and answers which passed between our Lord and the man were characteris- tically brief. It was business and not talk. Intense faith, being the concentrated sentiments and a decoction of the truest feelings of the heart, occupies but little time and language in expression. Some of the most important transactions between faith and her fondest object are very brief. Intense earnestness wastes not itself in words. 3. It is very decisive and full. " Lord, I believe." In an ocean of language you may not find a drop of thought, while in a few drops of language you may find an ocean of meaning and reality. This man's confession of faith is as short as it can well be, but is quite as comprehensive'' and hearty. This short confession contains a long and a full faith. It is full of heart and soul, full of submissive and willing obedience, aud, better than all, it is full of Christ. VI. Faith woRsniPPixo. "And he worshipped him." 1. An act of overwhelming gratitude. 2. An act of the profoundest reverence. 3. An act involving the highest exercise of faith. The man could speak no more, bis heart was too full for speech. The attitude of prayer alone suited his condition and shall alone express his feelings; and, overburdened with the splendour and love of the Son of God and the delight of finding him, he falls before him and worships. We gladly leave him there, and disturb him not. Gladly do we leave faith at the feet of her Lord in the glow of devotion, in the glory of worship, and in the ecstasies of Divine fellowship. WTiat passed between the soul and her Saviour was too sacred to be recorded in our Gospels, but was faithfully recorded in the gospel of eternal life. Lesions. 1. Comjxiratively trivial occurrences are often the occasions of the greatest results. The ejection of this man who was born blind and cured by Jesus was the occasion of the founding of the Christian Church. To this outcast Jesus first revealed himself as the universal Object of faith, and faith in him as the test of adherence and 32 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1—41. fellowship. In this sense the outcast was the first member of the Christian society. The Jewish Church failed to fulfil its mission and embrace its own Messiah and the Saviour of the world, hence the establishment of the Christian society, and the ultimate secession of Christ and his followers from the Jewish for ever. 2. What was considered at the time a painful loss may ultimately prove to he the greatest gain. The practical ejection of this man from the religious privileges of Judaism was to him doubtles3,a great trial and a serious disadvantage, but when he found Christ he found infinitely more than he had lost. Cast out from the ship of Judaism into an angry sea to take his chance, but the surging waves threw him on the " Rock of ages " — a most happy exchange, from a sinking ship to a high and solid rock. 3. When Jesus is on the look out for faith, and faith for him, a quick bargain is struck when they meet. Such was the case here. 4. Faith often gets much more than its highest expectation. This man defended Jesus of Nazareth, but found in him the Son of God. There are sweet surprises in the experience of faith, and happy fortunes in spiritual merchandise. In a short time this joor man found an eternal fortune. — B. T. Yer. 4. — Tlie supreme Worker and his opportunity. " I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day : the night cometh, when no man can work." This, like so many of the memorable sayings of our Lord, is an incidental one, arising out of the circum- stances of the hour. On a sabbath day in autumn — the last autumn of his earthly life — our Lord paused as he passed through the streets of Jerusalem to look at a blind beggar, known to be blind from his birth. The sight was sad enough, but instead of exciting the pity of Jesus' disciples, it seems only to have awakened their speculative curiosity. Taking it for granted, as was usual in their days, that special suffering must needs be a retribution for special sin, they asked their Master the question, " Who was to blame for this man's blindness ? " Was he sent eyeless into the world for some fault of his own, or was he suffering for transgressions of his parents ? Our Lord put the unwise question aside. The disciples were far from the mark. There was a wider and deeper philosophy of suffering than they were dreaming of, and for the calamity before them there was more than sufficient reason in this, that the man's blindness was now to be the occasion of God's signal mercy. Christ, therefore, refuses to be drawn into any fruitless and bootless discussions regarding the origin of evil either physical or moral. This was not his mission into the world. He had come amongst us to triumph over evil, not to explain it, and so he says to his disciples, " I must work the works of him," etc. No saying of Christ's brings his true manhood more distinctly before us than these words do. Before he could utter them he must have " emptied himself of his glory, and taken upon him the form of a servant." There were times, indeed, in his ministry when he used language which could only become the Son of God, as when he spoke of the glory which he had with the Father before the world was. But here he speaks with equal plainness as the Son of man, in all things made like unto his brethren. We can never forget that Christ's mission into the world was unparalleled, even as he stands alone in his relation to the Father. Still, it was in our nature that he accomplished this whole work of his. He did not seem to be a man, he was " the Man Christ Jesus." These words, therefore, reveal to us the spirit, the motive, the principle, of the only perfect human life that ever was lived, and it is in this respect that they set him forth as our Example. I. Ode Lord here distinctly acknowledges a will higher than his own, and tells us that in laying out his earthly life this will was his guiding star. He had all the sensibilities of a sinless human being. He not only knew by experience the urgencies of hunger and thirst, and longed for rest from exhausting toil, but he loved congenial society like that of the family of Bethany. How must he have recoiled from the con- tradiction of sinners! How sensitively must he have shrunk from contact with vice and squalor! But he allowed not such natural feelings, pure as they were, to reign supreme among his motives, or interfere with his life-work. " Even Christ pleased not himself." "I came down from heaven," he said, " not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me." Here, surely, there are great, though simple, lessons for us all. In our daily lives we feel the force of a hundred different motives. We are swayed by our own tastes, by the example and opinions of others, by the force of outward circum- stances ; but do we see rising above all these, and piercing through them, and shedding CH.IX. 1— 41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN." 33 a light over them, the will of our Father la heaven ? "We are sent into the world with ditferent gifts and capacities. We find ourselves placed in widely different stations and spheres. But have we laid it to heart that God has a purpose in placing us here, and that this mysterious gift of life is not like a freehold — an independent possession — still less like a plaything which we may do what we like with, but that it is a trust from above, a stewardship under its Giver? Plainly this was Christ's view of life, and to reveal this to us in light and clearness, by example as well as by precept, was one j:reat end for which he came into the world. For he came not only to atone for our sins and to reconcile us to God, but also to show us, as it had never been seen before, the meaning and purpose of life, connecting the whole of it with a perfectly holy and righteous will. Multitudes without number have realized this in their own experience, and thus the humblest lives have been ennobled, and the busiest lives consecrated by a motive and an influence not of this world. Oh! if we would work without becoming the slaves of our work, if we would enjoy our freedom without being ensnared by it, we can only do so as the servants of God. Have you learned this great life-lesson from Christ ? Let no one say that because our Lord's work was necessary for the redemption of the world, therefore ours is of no consequence. On the contrary, it is as imiwrtant for us to do the will of God in our sphere as it was for Christ to do it in his, and assuredly he will impart his S[iirit to all who come to him in faith and take his yoke upon them. And how do these words of Christ, " I must work," speak to us I of the sacredness of duty ! They show that the idea of obligation was distinctly present to his mind. He felt that it was right to obey his God and Father who had sent him, and instead of this feeling being irksome or burdensome, it was one source of his spiritual strength. " He put on righteousness as a breastplate." On the one hand his love to God did not make his obedience seem superfluous, and on the other hand the idea of duty never chilled nor lessened his love. He showed how love and obedience are like two fair blossoms which spring from the same root. And what is that root y It is the life of God in the soul of man. Here, again, "let the same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Seek to cherish and cultivate the spirit of loving obedience. If Christ, by his infinite sacrifice, has reconciled you to God, redeemed you from the curse of the Law, it is that you may serve his Father and yours from the heart. If he has stripped obligation of its terrors, he has strengthened instead of weakening its power. " This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments." II. The text teaches us that Christ felt the preciousness of opportoxity and THE value of time. He calls his earthly life day, and its termination he calls the coming night, when no man can work. This language of his cannot be mistaken. He foresaw, indeed, with perfect clearness the glory which awaited him, and the unending work which he was to accomplish by his Spirit in the ages to come ; but his life-work here below was the necessary and divinely appointed preparation for it all. The seed- time was essential to the harvest, and it was a limited seed-time, not to be repeated. It was only in the present that Christ's words of life, fresh from his human lips, could be spoken ; that his acts of personal kindness and compassion could be performed ; that his example, destined to be so infinitely fruitful, could be set forth. And therefore he prized that present, the day allotted to him, and not in feverish haste, but in all the calmness of spiritual strength, he took possession of it, and used it for his Father's glory. " The night cometh, when no man can work." Taken by themselves, these words only express a simple fact which no one would think of proving or dream of denying. Life comes but once to each of us,and however we may spend it or misspend it, no portion of it will return to be spent over again. "We cannot prolong it at will, or persuade it to linger. Relentlessly it moves like the hand of a clock or the shadow on the sun-dial. All our earthly activities, our duties, our charities, our services in the cause of God and man, must needs be included in it. When the night cometh they must cease. Every man who has any earnestness of purpose about him has felt the stimulus of such thoughts as these. Whatever his pursuits may be, whether the objects he takes an interest in are of a lower or higher kind, his heart often whispers to itself, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do," etc. Nay, further, many an idler has been rebuked into activity, and many a dreamer wakeaed up out of his useless reveries, just by the thought fastening itself upon him that he is allowing life, with .all its opportunities, to slip away, and that it will never return. Now, if you have entered JOHN — II. l> 34 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. ix. 1—41. on the life of Christ's disciples, does this motive lose its force ? Surely not. You have learned from your Master the true worth and importance of life, and you have been taught to spend it under the eye of " the Father who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every man's work." Whatever be your station or sphere, this is the case. Here and now, within the narrow limits of the present, you have your opportunities of service allotted to you, your only sphere for " works of faith and labours of love." And these opportunities, if wasted or let slip, can never be recalled. Why should they be lost? These words contain a motive which no Christian can afford to lose. Does any one say, " It does not apply to me or to the multitudes who are already tasked to the uttermost by the necessary cares of life and the stern demands of business " ? Ah ! God is not like a hard master, reaping where he has not sown, and gathering where he has not strawed. If your necessary toil is performed in a Christian spirit, in the spirit of a faithful servant, it will be accepted as a free-will offering. Even to the slaves at Colosse the Apostle Paul says, " Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not to men. ... Ye serve the Lord Christ." Yet surely in the busiest life there is room for deeds of kindness and words of sympathy, for giving the cup of cold water, for proffering the timely advice, for doing many things for Christ's sake which no man can require at your hands. But especially those whose position in the world is independent, and who have much freedom of choice as to how they shall employ their time, should lay these words to heart. It is you who are most of all tempted to lead a desultory life. Society, as it is called, seems to expect it of you. People suppose that you must have time for every trifling engagement, and it is so much easier to let each day be passively surrendered in this way than to redeem the time for any definite purpose. But how should this one thought, " the night cometh," help you resolutely to resist or break through such petty distractions! It is but a portion, after all, of this brief life that you can call your working day. Necessary cares, needful rest, and relaxation must have their share. Sickness may at any time swallow up you know not how much of the remainder. See that you consecrate your yet unbroken daylight to the service of God and man. You have every motive to do so, and you may well be stimulated and encouraged by the example of many around you ; but oh, how affecting the thought that your Master, when he dwelt on earth, said to his disciples, " I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day : the night Cometh, when no man can work " ! — G. B. Ver. 39. — Spontaneous judgment and self-enacting verdict. "And Jesus said. For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see," etc. if the words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened in a sure place, we need not wonder that the words of Christ himself should sometimes be startling in their sharp- ness— should pierce like a two-edged sword. The text before us is an example of this, and though it contains a paradox which in substance occurs frequently in the Bible, it is expressed here with peculiar point and severity. I. First of all, look at these words in the light of the occasion which called THEM FORTH. They are the solemn verdict of our Lord on the opposite effects of the work of mercy which he had just wrought in Jerusalem. He had opened the eyes of a blind beggar by sending him to wash at the pool of Siloam. The miracle had excited attention, wonder, discussion, and ere long the thoughts of many hearts were revealed by it. On the man himself the immediate effect of the miracle was remarkable. It brought out the simplicity of his character, and his loyalty to his Benefactor and to truth. He already knew Jesus by name, and in the joy and wonder of his heart he rightly concluded that the common report was true, and that Jesus was a Prophet. But a severe ordeal awaited him. The great religious guides of his nation summoned him into their presence, and with all the skill of practised casuists they urged him to disown his Benefactor or deny his Divine power. Still the man stood firm, and rather than i^rove false to his conviction that Jesus was a Prophet, he submitted to the terrible sentence of excommunication. Ere long our Lord heard of this good confession, sought out and found the man who made it, and revealed to him the mighty secret that he was the Son of God. And at his words the smoking flax of true faith burst into flame in the poor man's heart, and he fell down and worshipped the Messiah. Thus, in a spiritual as well as a natural sense, Jesus gave sight to the blind. But now what was CH. IX. 1—41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 35 the effect of the same miracle on the Pharisees? Had they known nothing of Jesus before, it was surely enough in itself to awe their minds and prepossess them in his favour. Common generosity, common fairness, would have required this. But, in fact, Jesus had been before them for well-nigh three eventful years, so that they were far from ignorant of his character and career. He bore all the marks of a prophet, and more than a prophet. He sps introduces not infrequently an explanation, sometimes a causal consideration, or an illustration which accounts for the previous statement ; see ch. xv. 12 ; xvii. 21, 23). The know- ledge which the sheep have of the Shep- herd corresponds with the Son's knowledge of the Father, and the Shepherd's know- ledge of the sheep answers to the Father's knowledge of the Son ; but more than this, the relation of the Son to the Father, thus expressed, is the real ground of the Divine intimacies between the sheep and the Shep- herd (cf. ch. XV. 10; xvii. 8). Then the Lord repeats and renews the solemn state- ment made at the commencement of the sentence. And I lay down my life for the sheep. Such knowledge of the peril of " his sions. If they are omitted, the remainder of the verse must be attached to the pre- ceding verse, throwing the middle clause into parentheses. Ta irpofiara are bracketed by Alford. ' The T.R. here reads, ytvaxxKOfiai virh tui/ iliSiv, with A, X, r. A, A, and most of the later authorities. TivdxTKovffi fxi tcL f/xd is read by Tischendorf (8th edit.), Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and Hort, and R.T., with a, B, D, L, with versions and Fathers. 46 THE GOSPEL ACCOEDiNG TO ST. JOHN. [ch. x. 1—42. own " involves him in sacrifice. Whereas in ver. 11 this is attributed to the "good Shepherd," now he drops the first part of the fif,'ure, and says, " I am laying down my life." Vers. 16 — 18.— (a) The continuity of the Shepherd-activity, notwithstanding the laying doicn of his life. Ver. 16. — And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. " The other sheep," not of this fold, not sheltered by the theocracy, not needing the pasturage of such privileges— Gentiles they may be, earnest souls of many a name, denomiuatioD, and profession, are, while he speaks, and even before the formation of his Church, • his own." ♦' Other sheep I have." Though they have never as yet heard his voice, they are his. His relation with them is personal and direct and spiritual, not dictated or conditionated by "the fold." They will hear his voice. We in vain ask the ques- tion, " When ? " He alone can answer it. Many a Cornelius in every nation is accepted by him (cf. Acts x. 35 ; xiv. 17 ; xvii. 27 ; xxviii. 28). But the passage contemplates a wider application : " Them also I must bring, or lead, among my own." They are scattered abroad now, but eternal Love, by as- suming Shepherd-wise relations with them, determiues not to bring them to one place or enclosure — to express such a thought we should have had, not ayaytTv, but awayaye^v (ch. xi. 52) or ■npoffayaytlv (Westcott) — but to bring them into personal relations with himself. They shall become one flock, one Shepherd. The false English translation of ■Koifivq, viz. " fold," should be specially noticed. If our Lord had meant to convey the idea of the rigid enclosure into which all the scattered sheep should be gathered, he would have used the word ouAtj. The word iToifivv is, however, studiously chosen. The error has done grievous injury. There is no variation of the Greek text, or in the earliest versions. It came through the Vulgate ovile into Wickliffe's Version, and into many other European versions. The Old Latin Ver- sions were correct, but Jerome led the way into the inaccurate translation. Tyndale perceived its true meaning, and Luther beautifully preserved the play upon the words. Coverdale, in his own Bible (1535), followed Tyndale; but in 1539, " the Great Bible" followed the Vulgate (Westcott). When naturalized, it sustained the false and growing pretension that outside the one " fold " of the visible Church the good Shep- herd was not ready with his care and love (see for the only adequate translation of ttoi/ui''?, Matt. xxvi. 31; Luke ii. 8; 1 Cor. ix. 7, where the Authorized Version has correctly rendered it " flock "). Christ, on other occa- sions, carefully warned his disciples against such narrowness, and here he declares that the sheep, independently of the fdld or folds, may yet form one great flocl:, under one Shepherd. When he described himself as the Door, he was, as we have seen, careful to speak of himself as " Door of the sheep," and not as the Door into the fold. He laid down his life in order to break down the partition between Jew and Gentile (Eph. ii. 13), between God and man, and between man and man. "In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, bond nor free." There may be many folds. Different nations, ages, times, and seasons may cause variations in these ; but there is but one flock under the watchful guardian- ship of one Shepherd. Ver. 17.— Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. The 5ia tovto points to the whole of the previous statement, and on to a more complete exposition of the precise jwint in it on which the Divine Father's love (dyaiTT}) rests. The " /" and " me " refer to the incarnate Son, i.e. to the Divine- human Personality of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father loveth me, because, not merely that I lay down my life, for sucli might be the consequence of helplessness in the pre- sence of victorious and desperate foes. The love which merely " laid down life " would be a Buddha-like self-sacrifice, producing certain moral effects upon the minds of the onlookers, and revealing a large and loving sense of the need of others. Yet in such expression of his sacrificial love he would have relinquished his undertaking. Tliere would have been no more that he could do for his flock. His Shepherd- functions would, in the consummating act, cease. He would be a beautiful Memory, not a living Energy ; a glorious Example, not the Author of eternal salvation. He would cease to be the great Shepherd of the sheep. Now. the Father's love contemplated more than this, viz. the Lord's own purpose to take up again that life which he was prepared volun- tarily to lay down for the sheep. Thus he would indeed die, that he miglit be more of a Shepherd to them than he had ever been before. How otherwise would he personally bring the other sheep into his flock, or be- known of them, as the Father was known by him ? Christ declares that after bis death he would still exercise royal rights, be as much a Divine-human Personality as ever. Christ, as a sinless Man, the sinless One, might indeed, after the victory over the tempter in the wilderness, or from the Mount of Transfiguration, have returned to the spiritual world without accomplishing an exodus on Golgotha; but he chose, he willed, to lay down his life. Having done en. X. 1—42.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 47 tliis much, he might have joined the great majority, und been their Head and Cliief, and left his work to be commente(i on by others. But such a consummation would have fallen far short of the true and sufficing object of the Father's love. Christ declares that the very end of his death was his resurrec- tion from dej\th. In retaking his life, he la able to continue, on perfectly dififerent terms, the shepherding of his people ; he becomes in the highest sense, the great Shepherd, the good Shepherd, the archetypal, and the veritable Shepherd of the flock of God. Ver. 18. — No one taketh ' it awa7 from me, but I lay it down of myself. Should the aorist lie the true reading, then the whole of the Incarnation must have been regarded by the Lord as already accomplished, as a completed fact. The ouSelr, "no one" — neither God, nor man, nor evil spirit — taketh it, i.e. my life, aicay from me, from myself, in the exercise of my sovereign will, in the full consciousness of spontaneity. I am laying it dotcn, not in consequence of my impotence before the powers of darkness, but " fnom myself." This proceeding is in perfect harmony with the will of God the Father; but it is Christ's free act notwith- standing, and of all things the most worthy of the Father's love (cf. here ch. v. 30, which appears at first to be in contradiction with the statement of this verse ; but the closing words of the verse rectify the im- pression ; see also ch. vii. 28 ; viii. 28). Christ justifies his extraordinary claim to lay down and after his death (retaining then the full possession of his Personality), to reassume the life which for a while, in submission to the doom on human nature, he had resolved to sacrifice. He says, I have (e^ovffiav) right — or, power and authority combined — to lay it down, and right to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father. I have power to do both these things. No other has ever put forth such a claim, and the discharge of it " from himself," i.e. spontaneously, is stated to be in consequence of an evroKi), an appoint- ment, an ordinance, he had received from the Father. The Divine purpose was realized in his perfect freedom and his perfect and absolute fulfilment of the Father's will. The narrative of the agony in the garden, given by the synoptists, confirms the blend- ing of his own freedom with the Divine order ; but the language of this Gospel (oh. xviii. 6 (cf. Matt. xxvi. 53), and xix. 11), ' The R.T. here places in the margin ^p(v ; it is the reading of N*, A, D. It is not accepted by the Revisers, nor by Tischendorf (8th edit.), nor by Tregelles; but Westcott and Hort insert it in the text, putting atpa iu the margin. and the best researches into what is called " the physical cause of the death of Christ " (see Dr. Stroud's valuable work on that subject), all confirm the voluntary nature of our Lord's suffering and death. " To cover this incomparable privilege with a veil of humility, he thought good to call it a command. The Father's mandate was, Thou shalt die or not die, thou shalt rise again or not rise again, according to the free promptings of thy love " (Godet). It was, however, the Father's appointment that Christ shoiUd freely exercise this stupendous consequence of his perfect obedience. So that all the assurances that God raised him from the dead are confirmed by the mode in which he speaks of his Divine right. Vers. 19— 21.— (6) The twofold effect of this declaration. Vers. 19, 20. — There arose ' a division again among the Jews because of these words. And many of them were saying. He hath a 'daemon, and is mad ; why hear ye him 1 The division among the Jews had repeatedly taken place. In ch. vii. 12, 30, 31, 40, 41, and ix. 8, 9, 16, we see different stages of the hostility and different aspects of opinion. They reached a similar point of expression in ch. vii. 20 ; viii. 48. With bitter madness the Pliarisees charged the Lord with being imder the power of a " djemon," and with consequent raving, i.e. with irraticmality and even evil motive. By this means " the Jews " sought to dissuade the people from any attention to such \6yovs (^sermones, Vulgate), discourses. They would not have done this if the impression on some had not been conspicuous and overpowering. " Why hear ye him ? " This was not the first time such division had occurred, and hence the ■Ka.\iv, again (see notes, ch. viii. 48). Some were listening with eager, be- wildering excitement. They knew not what to think. Their nascent faith is rebuked by the authorities. Ver. 21. — There was a twofold reply: one drawn from their own experience. Others said. These Qri/xara ; verba, Vulgate) sayings — " things said " — are not those of one ^ho is possessed by a daemon. Their majestic calm, their conscious strength, the strange thrill they sent through liumau hearts, and wiiich we feel to this hour, dis- criminate them from the scream of the maniac, with which some of the more astounding statements taken by themselves might have suggested comparison. They give another argument drawn from the ' The oiv is omitted by Tischendorf (8t i edit.), R.T., Tregelles, and Westcott and Hort, on the authority of X, B, L, X, thou^'li it is supported by A, r, A, A, and versions and Fathers. 48 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. x. 1— 42. miracle which had just taken place, which proves that his friends on this occasion were very far from the mad wickedness of those whose moral sense had been so perverted as to say that "he casts out dajmons by the prince of daemons " (see Matt. xii. 24, etc., and parallel passages). Can a dsemon open the eyes of the blind 1 It is not in the nature of a daemon to heal disease, and pour light on siglitless eyes. The goodness of the Lord triumphs over the vile insinuation. We must have better explanation than this of his mysterious claims. The contest was sharp. The conflict for a while silenced opposition, only to break out again with greater malice and fury. Vers. 22 — 42. — 6. The oneness of Christ with the Father. The discourse at the Feast of Dedication, with its results. Vers. 22— 26.— (1) The Feast of Dedica- tion, and the excitement of the people. The paragraph is pregnant with meaning, arising from the place, the time, and the action of the Jews. It contains the dis- crimination between the Jews and those who were in spiritual union with himself, viz. his sheep. Then follow the character- istics and privileges of his sheep, which lead up to the climax in which he risks the deadly animosity of bis hearers, by claiming identity of saving power with the Father. He accounts for this by asserting what is expressive of positive consubstantiallty with the Father. On any exegesis, this solemn announcement is a stupendous assumption of personal dignity, and was regarded by his hearers as blasphemous, madness. Ver. 22.— Now,' the Feast of Dedication (the enkainia) was (celebrated) in Jerusalem. This feast is not elsewhere noticed in the New Testament. The account of its origin is found in 1 Mace. iv. 36, etc. ; 2 Mace. x. 1 —S ; Josephus, ' Ant.,' xii. 7. 7. And it was winter. It was held on the 25th of Chisleu, which, in a.d. 29, would correspond with the 19th of December, in commemoration of the " renewal," reconsecration, of the temple by * 'Eyevero Se is the reading of N, A, D, X, and most of the uncials and cursives ; Vulgate, facta sunt ; but Westcott and Hort here introduce TcJre in place of Si, on the authority of B, L, 33, and versions. Ae t<5t€ are read by several cursives. Neither Tre- gelles, Alford, nor Tischendorf (8th edit.) introduce these words into the text. Should it be the correct reading, it connects the following discussion with that which pre- cedes, and so allows of no break till the close of ch. xi. Judas Maccabaeus after the gross profanation of it by Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Mace, i 20—60; iv. 36—57). It occupied eight days, was distinguished by illumination of the city and temple and of other places throughout the land, and hence was called the "Feast of Lights." Many interesting peculiarities of this feast are detailed in Edersheim's ' Life of Jesus,' vol. il. 228, etc. One feature was the increase night by night of the number of lights which com- mi-morated the restoration of the temple. All fasting and public mourning were pro- hibited (see ' Moed. K.,' iil. 9). The high entiiuslasm of the people made them long for deliverance from the Roman yoke. The Jews would probably have eagerly accepted Jesus as Messiah if he had been ready to take up the role of a political leader. Doubtless he was the Christ of the Hebrew prophecies, and in his own human con- sciousness his high position swelled his loftiest thought ; but he was not the Christ of their Jewish expectation. Ver. 23.^And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. He walked in Sdlomon's portico — that part of the temple of Herod which the apostles afterwards adopted as the scene of some of their most explicit assertions of the gospel (Acts iii. 11 ; v. 12). It was associated with the grandest events in their national history ; for it was reared on the substructions of Solomon's temple, which even to the present day are intact (Robinson's ' Palestine.' i. 289 ; Palestine Exploration Society's Reports ; ' Recovery of Jerusalem,' frontispiece, pp. 17, 226, 309 — ■ 319). The Lord walked there because it was winter, and wintry weather. This reveals a little touch of the hand of an eye-witness. We need not ask for any more transcendental explanation. The note of time, moreover, implies tliat two months had elapsed since the Feast of Tabernacles. Wieseler calcu- lates that the Feast of Tabernacles closed on October 19, and the Feast of Dedication began on December 20, and, if so, time is left for a portion of the Galilsean ministry cited in Luke x. — xiii. Ezra x. 9 — 13 shows that the time referred to was after a period of heavy rain, and may account for Jesus walking in the shelter of the portico. Ver. 24. — Then the Jews came round about him. Not necessarily (with Godet) separating him from his disciples, but in a threatening and imperative fashion, demand- ing an immediate answer. It is probable that he had absented himself for two months in the neighbourhood, had even been in Peraja (cf. Luke ix.), and met the multitudes coming up to the feasts. The irdKiv trepav rod 'lopSivov of ver. 40, is best understood by his having been there before. The difficulty of his making retrospective re- CH. X. 1—42.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 49 ference to the similitude and allegory of the first part of tliis chapter is removed by the simple supposition that he saw iu this group of bis interrogators many of those who had heard his former discourse. And said nnto him, How long dost thou hold onr sonl in Bospense 1 — aipeiv ttjc \\ivxhi' vfiui' ; used iu the sense of " lift up the soul," and so used in similar connection in the clas-sics (Eurip., 'Ion,' 928; ' Hec.,' G9; ^Eschylus', 'Sept.,' 198; also Joscphus. 'Ant.,' iii. 2. 3)— If thou art the Chiist (simple sup- position), tell us plainly. Observe in ch. xvi. 25 our Lord's uwii contrast between speaking fV vapoiniais and speaking i:appr)ai%, with open, clear utterance. Tliey had heard liis parables, and say, " Let him drop all reserve, and deliver himself in ciitegoric form." Archdeacon Watkins has well re- called the various utterances which fell on the more susceptible of the Jerusalemites. This was the Feast of Linht.-j, and has he not called himself the Light of the world ? This was a feast commemorative of freedom from the Syrian yoke, and liad he not said, " If the Son set you free, ye shall be free indeed " ? This was the Feast or' the Puri- fication of the Temple ; had not his fiist act been a cleansing of the courts of the temple ? We cannot wonder at the summons and challenge of the people. Ver. 25. — Jesus answered them. The reply of Jesus is full of wisdom. If he had at once given an affirmative answer, they would have misunderstood him, because he was not the Christ of their expectations. If he had denied that he was the Messiah, he would have been untrue to his deepest consciousness of reality. The answer was : I spake with you — told you what I am — and ye believe not. To the woman in Samaria, to the Capernaites, to the blind man, to Peter and the other apostles, and in several emphatic forms, he had admitted his Messiahship. In ch. viii. he had claimed the highest honours and announced his Divine commission, and appealed to his great Messianic works, but bis endeavour to rectify their Messianic ideal had, tiirough their obtuseness, failed of its purjiose. So now once more he referred them to works done in his Father's name, which hitherto had failed to convince them : The works that I do in my Father's name (ch. v. 19, 36), they bear witness concerning me. Ver. 2G. — He gives the reason of their in- eensiVjility or lack of appreciation and faith : But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep (for similar construction, iark 4k, see Matt. xxvi. 73; ch. vi. 6i). The clause (Kadui flirov v/xlv '), [as I said unto you], is ' Tischendorf ((Jth edit.), Lachmann, and T.R., with A, D, M, X, and other uncials, JOUS — II. rejected by powerful arguments, and com- mentators cease to discus.s whether it belongs to the previous or following clause. In neither case docs it ajjpear entirely relevant, although the difficulties felt in either appli- cation may be reduced by supposing either one saying or the other to have been virtu- ally embodied in the statements of the parables of ch. x. 1 — 18. Vers. 27 — 30. — (2) ChrisVs claim to equa- lity of power and essence, and siniilaiity of , gracious operation with the Father. Vers. 27, 28. — My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me : and I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand. Commentatois have dift'ered as to the arrangement of these two ! verses — whether the six assertions should j be regarded as two triplets, in the first of I which the sheep of Clirist are made promi- i nent, and in the latter of which the Shep- herd; thus — (1) The sheep — " My sheep hear my voice " (their re- ceptivity). " And I know them " (the Lord's re- sponse to their faith). "And they follow me" (their active obediiiice). (2) The Shepherd— " I give tiiem eternal life " (involving freedom from peril and death). " They shall not perish for ever." " No one (not man or devil, wolf or hireling) shall pluck them out of my hand." This is not so satisfactory as the arrange- ment which puts this weighty saying into three couplets instead of two triplets ; iu which the sheep are the prominent theme of each proposition. The three couplets dis- play the climacteric character of the won- drous rhythm and interchange of emotion between the Divine Shepherd and the slieep — " My sheep hear my voice, and I know thevi " = mutual recognition. " They follow me, and I give them eternal life " = reciprocal activity. " Tliey shall not perish for ever, and no one shall pluck them out of my hand " = an authoritative assurance, and its pledge or justification. Chriat's knowledge of the sheep corresponds with their recognition of his supreme cursives, versions, and Fathers, contain them; but N, B, K, L, Vulgiitc, Origen, numerous cursives, Tischendorf (8th edit.), R T., Tregelles, and Westcott and Hort omit. Alford (Gth edit.) brackets. 50 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ch. x. 1—42. claims ; their active trust is rewarded by bis greatest gift ; their indefeasible birthright is guaranteed by his limitless authority and power to protect them. It would be gross perversion of the passage to urge this inde- feasible birthright on the ground of a few occasional flashes of conscious assurance and without any recognition of all the terms of the relation. Ver. 29.— The last statement is sustained by a still loftier assumption. Before trans- lating, it is necessary to notice the three readings of the text. (1) That of the T.R. and the Revisers' Text : ' My Father who gave (them) to me is greater than all the powers that can possibiy be arrayed against them. (2) Tlie reading of N, D, With reference to that u-hich my Father, One greater than all, gave me, and no one is able to pluck from the hand of the Father. Meyer, however, trans- lates this differently ; he supposes the fuelCov to refer to the Father "a something greater, a greater potence." Westcott and Hort prefer the reading with 8 and ixfl(ov ; and Westcott translates, That ichich my Father has given me is greater than all, and regards it as a reference to the sheep as a collective unity. The internal reasons compel Lu- thardt, Godet, and Lange to fall back on T.Ii., and surely the extraordinary strain of the meaning justifies them. Our Lord would sustain with even stronger assurance the safety of his sheep. The Father's gift to himself, the Father's own eternal love and power, the Divine omnipotence of the Lord God himself, is pledged to their secu- rity. " My hand " becomes " my Father's hand." He seems to say, " If you question my capacity, you need not question his power. Sacrilegious violence may appa- rently nail my hands to the cross; the sword may awake against Jehovah's Shep- herd. But none can outwit, surprise, cru- cify, conquer, my Father, none can invalidate his care." Ver. bO. — Then fallows the sublime minor premise of the syllogism, I and the Father (we) are one. As Augustine and Bengel have saiil, the first clause is incompatible with Sabelliaaism, and the second clause with Ariunism. The Lord is conscious of his » The reading of the T.R. and R.T., with the exception of the last word, ia, 'O narrtp fiOV, 6s SeSwKf fiOl, fifi^WV TldvTOtV «(7Tl* Kai oiheh hvvarai apird^eiv ew tt)s x«'P^s '''ov tra- rp6s [mow]- Although the R.T. places in the margin S SeSoiKe fnoi iravToiv yiii^iv Icrrl, this is tho reading preferred by Westcott and Hort. Tiscbendorf (8fh edit.) and Tregelles, on the authority of N, D, L, Coptic, Sahidic, and Italic, read 8 ^ihojKiv with n.ti(6v, and subsequent modification in A, B, X, Vul- gate, etc., read us and p-flfov. own Personality as distinct from that of the Father, and yet he asserts a fundamental unity. But what kind of unity is it? Is it a unity of wish, emotion, sentiment, only ? On the contrary, it is a oneness of redemptive power. The Divine activity of the Father's eternal love did not come to any arrest or pause when he gave the sheep to the Son, but with its irresistible might is present in the " hand " of Jesus (no one " can," not no one '♦ shall "). Therefore the eV, the one reality, if it does not express actual unity of essence, involves it. Some have endeavoured to minimize the force of this remarkable statement by comparing it with ch. xvii. 21 — 23, where Jesus said believers are "to be in us," and " to be one, even as we are one," i.e. to have the same kind of relation with one another (being a collective unity) as the Father and Son sustain towards each other, " I in them, thou in me, that they may be perfected [reach their Te'Xoy, by being blended] into one ; " i.e. into one Divine per- sonality by my indwelling. Now, it is no- where there said that believers and the Fatlier are one, but such a statement is scrupulously avoided. Numerous attempts have been made to escape from the stupen- dous assumption of this unity of power and essence with the Father. The whole gist of the assertion reveals the most overwhelming self-consciousness. The Lord declares that he can bestow eternal life and blessedness upon those who stand in close living rela- tion with himself, and between whom and himself there is mutual recognition and the interchanges of love and trust. He bases the claim on the fact that the Father's hands are behind his, and that the Father's eternal power and Godhead sustain his mediatorial functions and, more than all, that the Father's Personality and his own Personality are merged in one essence and entity. If he merely meant to imply moral and spiritual union with the Father, or comi^leteness of revelation of the Divine mind, why should the utterance have provoked such fierce resentment ? Vers. 31 — 39. — (3) Besented and chal- lenged, hut vindicated hy tourd and sign. Ver. 31. — That the Jews supposed him to speak of an essential unity is obvious from what follows. The Jews (then *) took up— should rather be carried or bore in their hands — stones again, huge pieces of marble lying around in the public works then pro- ceeding. There is an increase of malice over and above what was involved in simply lift- ing stones from the pavement (cf. ch. viii. 59), and the alteration of the word is another hint of the eye-witness. The word " again " ^ Oiv ia omitted by R.T. and Tischendorf (8th edit.). CH. X. 1—42.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 51 reminds the reader that this was a second -and more desperate attack upon the life of Jesus. Ver. 32. — Jesus answered them, Kany good (/caAa) works have I shown you from the(my ') Father. The works of Christ were lovely and radiant with Divine beneficence ; they wore revelations of the Father. " I showed you many of them," says he ; " I gave you signs thus of the intimate relation between the whole of the self-revelatiou I am making and the Fatlier " (cf. ch. vi. G5 ; vii. 17 ; viii. 42). For which work of these (works) are ye stoning me 1 i.e. preparing by your gesture to carry this into effect. By these words, uttered witli smiting irony and terrific though quiet indignation, Jesus ansivered their threat. Ver. 33. — The Jews answered him (say- ing ^), For a good (excellent, obviously, ra- diantly so) work we do not stone thee ; but for blasphemy ; and because thou, being man, makest thyself God. (Jlipl Ka\ov fpyov and trepl $\a(T