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FROM THE LIBRARY

OF

JOHN WHITEHEAD
1850-1930
PRESENTED TO
BY HIS HEIRS

COMMENTARY ON ST. JOHN

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN

THE KEY WILLIAM BRUCE'

JAMES SPEIES
36 BLOOMSBUEY STREET, LONDON
1891

PREFACE.

The gospel of the beloved apostle has so much a character of its
own, that it is generally treated separately by those -who take a
synoptical vie-w- of the gospels.
In writing his gospel, John is supposed to have had two objects
in view ; — to record some parts of the Lord's life and teaching
which the other evangelists had omitted ; and to counteract the
influence of Gnosticism, which had even then begun to infect the
church, and the tendency of which was, to substitute the visionary
embodiment of a time-born JEon for the actual incarnation of
the Eternal Word.^ There is no reason to doubt that the gospel
may have had a special as well as a general -use to perform;
and that the Divine and the human purpose in writing it may
have coincided, since every good intention, like every good and
every perfect gift, is from above. Such an opinion is only
objectionable so far as it assigns to the gospel a merely human
authorship, or reduces the inspiration of Scripture to the super
intending influence of the Holy Spirit. As this is a point of
great importance, and as the present Commentary proceeds on
^ John is helieved to have had this in vie-tv -n-hen he wrote in his epistles :
"Herehy know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is of God : and every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God : and this is that spirit of anti
christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come ; and even now already is it in
the world" (1 Epistle iv. 2). "For many deceivers are entered into the world,
who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist" (2 Epistle 7).

vi PREFACE.
the principle that the Scriptures are divinely inspired, I have
treated of this subject in an introductory chapter. My object
here is to consider the relation which John's gospel has to the
others, in reference to the Lord, to the church, and to man iu
his spiritual character.
The Word of God, considered as a series of successive revela
tions, reflects the character, and is indeed a history, of the
human race, as they lived and acted under the several dispen
sations of the church, to which these revelations were made.
As there is an analogy between the history of the race and
that of the individual, these dispensations, which mark the
great epochs of man's spiritual history, are analogous to the
successive states of human life, from its beginning to the com
pletion of regeneration. The Old Testament describes those
states which precede, and are preparatory to, the actual com
mencement of the regenerate life. The period from Adam to
Christ, in the history of the race, is analogous to the period of
man's life, from the time of his first, to the time of his second,
birth ; from the time he is born in the image of the first Adam,
who was made a living soul, to the time he is born in the image .
of the second Adam, who was made a quickening Spirit.^ The
gospels, therefore, which contain the history of the Lord's life,
from his birth to his ascension, and thus describe the entire
process of his glorification, also include the period, and describe
the process, of man's regeneration, as the effect and image of the
Lord's work.
While the New Testament has thus a distinct character in
relation to the Old, its several parts have a distinct character
in relation to each other. Assuming that the existence of four
gospels, each containing a history of the Lord's life, is not of
man but of God, we may conclude that this originated in a
purpose worthy of Divine wisdom. We cannot, therefore, con-
^ For a development of this ide.a see an article, hy the author of this work, in
the IntellectvMl Me-xiository for 1846, under the title of "Remains."

PREFACE. vii
sistently with their Divine authorship, regard the gospels simply
as repetitions, sometimes with perplexing variations, nor even
as supplements, one of another. True, every gospel contaias
something that is not to be found in the others ; and John's is
not the least conspicuous iu this respect. To his gospel we owe
the Lord's discourse with Mcodemus on the new birth; with
the woman of Samaria on the living water, and with the Jews
on the bread of life ; with Martha on the resurrection ; with his
disciples on his oneness with the Father; and his sublime
prayer that the Father would perfect in him the work of Glori
fication, as the crowning act of Reconciliation. To it also we
are indebted for the record of some of the Lord's beneficent
works ; as, the cure of the impotent man at the pool of Beth-
esda ; the gift of sight to one born blind ; the raising of Lazarus
from the dead ; and the washing of His disciples' feet. But there
are also some particulars in -which John's gospel differs from the
others in its character as well as in its contents. The other
evangelists relate more of the public, he relates more of the
private, life and teaching of our Lord ; nearly one half of his
gospel being occupied with the record of transactions that took
place in the presence of the disciples only, most of them of the
profoundest nature and of the deepest import. It is admitted
by all commentators that John's gospel is more spiritual in its
character than the others ; that it concentrates our attention
more fully upon the single person of the Lord ; and that it gives
more of the Lord's doctrine than of his history.
What has been remarked respecting the distinctive characters
of the two most eminent of the Lord's apostles, — that John was
a lover of Jesus, and that Peter was a lover of Christ, may be
said of the four evangelists. John's gospel is more the history
of Jesus ; the others are more the history of Christ. John
presents the Lord to us more in his personal, the others more in
his Messianic, character ; he presents Him more in His character
of Jesus the Saviour, the others more in His character of Christ

viii PREFACE.
the King; he presents Him more in the character of Divine
Love, they more in the character of Divine Truth. His gospel
presents the Lord's life and teacliing, more in their moral than
in their iuteUectual aspect; and as more calculated to make
Him the Object of love than of faith to His disciples. Perhaps
there is no better view of this subject than that suggested by
Noble,' — that Matthew and Mark relate more to the external,
Luke and John more to the internal, life of the Lord and his
disciples. According to this view, the gospels may be under
stood to describe the progressive advancement of the Lord's
glorification and of man's regeneration. As John's is the last
of the gospels, so does it describe the last and most perfect
of these states, and eminently, in relation to man, that state in
which all lower gi-aces are centred in love to the Lord, the
crowning grace of the religious life.
* "Plenary Inspiration," Leot. vi sec. 2.

INTRODUCTION.

" All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," ' for " holy men of old
spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."^ Divine in its origin,
Scripture is most holy in its nature, and is, in reality, as well as in
name, the Word of God. Looking up to the Tilajesty on high, we may
say, as our Lord when addressing the Father said. Thy Word is Tkuth.
Not simply true, as being free from error, but Truth itself, as emanating
from Him "who is Light, and in whom is no darkness at all."3
Eut the Truth which the Word is differs from the truth as it out
wardly appears. The Word is in the true.st sense a revelation of the
mind of God, hut it is a revelation of the Divine mind, not simply as
expressed in the words of human language, but as clothed in the forms
of human thought. Revelation has, therefore, two sides — a Divine and
a human. On its Divine side it is absolute truth, on its human side
it is relative truth. The absolute truth of the Word is, like its Divine
Author, eternal, unchangeable, universal ; its relative truth, like its
human writers, is temporal, variable, local. The absolute truth of Scrip
ture is not, therefore, that which appears in its cosmogony, its science,
its history, or even in its ecclesiastical laws and institutions. These
are forms of human thought which belong to the periods in which the
Word was written, and are but the human vesture in which Divine
Truth clothed itself, when it descended from God to the abodes of men.
The Old and New Testaments are striking examples of this. In de
scending into thfe Hebrew mind. Revelation clothed itself with the forms
of Hebrew thought. Much of it, for this reason, consists of the his
tory of that peculiar people, and not a little of its teaching is accom
modated to their particular state of mental development and imper-
1 2 Tim. iii. 16. ^ 2 Peter i. 21. ^1 Johni. .5.

X INTRODUCTION.
feet spiritual discernment. The Hebrew Scriptures contain no direct
revelation of the immortality of the soul, and speak of none but tem
poral rewards and punishments ; other laws besides that of divorce
were given them " for the hardness of their hearts," and their whole
system of sacrificial worship was the adaptation of an existing ritual to
their carnal state. The New Testament is addressed to a higher con
dition of mind. Life and immortality are brought to light by the gos
pel ; God, as a Spirit, is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth ; the
law of ordinances is abolished ; and the moral law is raised to a higher
standard. Wliile these strHting differences are manifest in the letter
of the Word, its Divinity and spirituality are everywhere the same; the
only difference being that in some parts they are more deeply and com
pletely veiled than in others. All the Lord's words are sphit and are
life, but His spiritual and living words are embodied in literal forms
of expression having different degrees of transparency, but which, consi
dered by themselves, are not living, and therefore not life-giving : "for
the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.""^
The distinction we have now pointed out must not be confounded
with that which some commentators make between certain parts of
Scripture which they allow to be of Divine, and others which they
deem to be only of human, authority. This theory divides the Word
into two separate portions, one of which is inspired, and the other not.
The apostolic doctrine is, that all Scripture is given by inspiration ;
and all is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc
tion in righteousness. The whole Word is Divine, and the whole is
human ; Divine in its essence, human iu its form. Not one part, but
one side, of revelation is Divine, and one human.
But even that side of revelation which is formally human is essen
tially Divine. Although the literal form of the Word is moulded by
man's state, it is not determined by his will. The materials for this
Temple of the Divine presence have indeed been supplied by man, but
its Maker and Builder is God. The stones may even have been rou"h-
hewn in the quarry of the human mind, but no sound of human ham
mer or of axe has been heard in the Sacred Edifice while buildino-.s
lu this, as in all other respects, the written is like the incarnate
1 2 Cor. iii. 6. 2 j jj; ^j y^

INTRODUCTION. xi
Word. Wlien God as the Eternal Word came down from heaven to
tabernacle among men, the humanity, with which he clothed Himself,
took its outward form from the nature of the virgin-mother, and its
quahty from her state, but it was neither originated nor formed by her
unll. Begotten of God, and therefore inwardly Divine, the humanity
was afterwards " curiously -wrought" .according to the Divine laws of
creation, which are independent both of the wUl and the power of man.
The revealed, like the incarnate Word, is therefore Divinity clothed
-ndth humanity. On its Divine side the Word is all that the Lord was
as the Son of God ; on its human side it is all that the Lord was as
the Son of man. Like the maternal humanity of the Lord, the
natural sense of the Word exhibits signs of its human parentage.
What is said of the incarnate Word is equally true of the revealed
Word. " He hath no form or comeliness ; and when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him."i " His visage was so
marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.";
The letter of the Word is deficient in the graces of style which men so
much admire in human compositions ; and it is marred by the moral
infirmities of many who have borne a conspicuous part in the events
and transactions it records.
The Word is no doubt widely different in its outward form and
appearance from what it would have been, if the state of mankind at
the time it was revealed had been less degraded. The sinfulness of men
has caused a change in the outward condition of the Word, analogous
to that which the idolatry of Israel produced in the tables of the De
calogue. The commandments, as first dehvered to Moses, were -\vritten
¦with the finger of God on tables which were the work of God.^ But
when, on seeing the people dancing round the golden calf, he cast tne
tables in anger from his hand, and broke them, he was instructed to
hew out two other tables, Hke those he had broken ; and on these two
human tables God wrote the same Divine words which were on the
first tables, which He Himself had formed. So, but for the sinfulness of
man the hteral sense of the Word wotild have been the work of God,
as the spiritual sense, which is inscribed upon it, is the writing of God.
We do not mean to say that the Word would not have been given
1 Is. liii. 2, 2 Is. Hi. 14. 3 g^. xxxii. 10.

xii INTRODUCTION.
through the instrumentality of man ; but there would have been more
of the Divine and less of the merely human in it, more of the heav
enly and less of the earthly in its composition. The letter of the
Word would have been a more perfect image of its spirit. It would
have contained no indications of an angry God ; no command to
slaughter nations and seize on their heritage ; no sanction of concubin
age or plurality of wives ; no worship of God by offering him the
blood of slain beasts.
We must, however, carefully guard against supposing these to be
blemishes, or even imperfections, in the written Word. On the con
trary, they are justly to be regarded as evidences of the perfection of
Scripture, as a wise means to a beneficent end. A form of revelation
more perfect in itself — expressed more in accordance with absolute
truth, would have been less suited, or rather, would have been entirely
unsuited, to the imperfect nature and degenerate state of man. The
Divine Word bears the image of the earthly, in order that, by coming
nearer to man in his earthly state, it may raise him to the imtige of the
Divine and to the state of the heavenly.
While the Word, like those to whom it has come, bears the image of
the earthly, it has within itself the means of its own exaltation, or, as
we might say, of its own glorification, and thus of the exaltation of
those who sincerely follow its teaching. Rude and carnal as some of
it appears, it is animated by a spirit as pure and holy as the most per
fect form of Revelation would have contained. As the same Divinity
dwelt in the Son of Mary that spake througli the angel in the burning
bush, or that shone forth from the countenance of the Son of man
in the midst of the golden candlesticks ; as the same Divine words
were written upon the tables which Moses made, that had been written
on the tables which were the work of God ; so, the Word which we
possess is as much the Temple of the Divine presence as if it had been
framed more directly by the Divine hand. Take a part as an example
of the whole. The history of Israel is but an earthly tablet, on which
are written, in characters of light, the Divine liistory of man's regene
ration. His bondage and deliverance, his dangers and escapes, his
privations and supplies, his trials and triumphs, his weary pUgrimage
aud everlasting rest, — these are the Divine revelation which God has

INTRODUCTION. xiii
inscribed on the literal history of the chosen people as the representa
tives of a spiritual church.
But it may be asked, and -with reason, how are we to discern the
Divine essence, which is within, by means of the human form, which
is without 1 what is there to guide us with anything like certainty in
our search after this pearl of great price, this heavenly treasure hid in
an earthly field 1
If there were no law of inspiration there would be no rule of inter
pretation. But there is such a law ; therefore there is such a rule.
When Di-vine thought clothes itself with the forms of human thought,
it assumes such only as are correspondent with itself. The Divine and
the human, the spiritual and the natural, are thus joined by Correspon
dence, and by the law of Correspondence the Di-vine can be seen in the
human, the spiritual in the natural. That Di-vine Truth clothes itself
with corresponding forms of human thought may be seen by one reflec
tion. The natural forms wliich the Divine Word has put on in reve
lation, are those which the Eternal Word had put forth in creation.
These forms are not less natural, because they have been taken from the
human mind. Nature is the basis of aU human thought. Natural
thoughts are but the mental images of natural things, variously com
bined and modified.
How, in the inspiration of the Scriptures, Divine Truth clothed it
self in the forms of human thought, and expressed itself in the words
of human language, it may be necessary to consider. Plenary inspira
tion implies verbal inspiration. Verbal inspiration impHes that the
very words used by the sacred writers were pronotmced in their ears.
But how is this to be understood consistently with the idea that the
words of inspiration were supplied by the sacred writers them
selves? The laws of the spiritual world explain how Revelation
was given. Angels and spirits cannot utter a word of human
language, and yet they speak with every man in his o-wn tongue. The
angels so spake -with the patriarchs ; and so, no doubt, did the apostles
with the multitude on the day of Pentecost, when every man heard
them in his own language. Angelic speech could not be conveyed
through a natural atmosphere, and could not therefore come to men by
an external way. Angels speak with men by an internal way. They

xiv INTRODUCTION.
clothe their ideas in the language which they find in the storehouse of
the human memory ; and thus they speak with every one in his own
tongue. This is in accordance with the law of correspondence, by
which the spiritual and natural worlds are connected, and by which
their inhabitants communicate with each other. When God spoke to
the prophets and apostles, it was through the medium of an angel,
whom He filled for the time with his presence. And He communicated
His Word to the sacred writers according to the same law as that by
which angels themselves communicate with men. From this circum
stance it is that Divine Truth, not only clothes itself with the forms
of human thought that belong to the age in which it is revealed, but
that it also assumes the characteristic style and expressions of the in
di-viduals through whom the revelation has been given. In these re
spects the writings of the prophets differ from those of the evangelists,
and one prophet and one evangelist differs from another. Every inspired
book has something peouhar to itself and characteristic of its -writer.
No doubt the Lord chooses his instruments ; and there is something in
the character of the instrument in accordance with the nature of the
message he is to deliver, or the truths he is to reveal. And those
truths clothe themselves with the language which the mind of the
writer contains that correspond with itself.
It may be necessary to explain what we mean by Correspondence,
which forms the bond of connection between the letter and the spirit
of Scripture, and by means of which we see the spiritual in the literal
sense. Correspondence is the mutual relation of one thing to another. Two
things correspond when they bear such a relation that the one exactly
answers to the other. There is one peculiarity in the sense in which
we employ the term. Correspondence is generally understood to mean
the relation existing between two natural objects ; we use it to express
the relation which exists between spiritual and natural things. There
is such a relation between the infinite and the finite, between the spiritual
world and the natural, between the soul and the body. There is one
condition inseparable from ah spiritual correspondence, which distin
guishes it from all natural analogies : the thing corresponduig derives
its existence from that to which it corresponds. Correspondence,

INTRODUCTION. xv
therefore, is the relation which exists between a spiritual cause aud its
natural effect ; and the science of correspondence is the knowledge of
that relation. The correspondence between the natural and spiritual
worlds, and between the natural and spiritual senses of the Word, is
grounded in this circumstance, that all natural things have a spiritual
cause, the natural world having its proximate cause iu the spiritual
world, and the natural sense of the Word in its spiritual sense. These
are therefore united by correspondence.
The nature of Correspondence, and its difference from all natural
analogies, -will be best understoo.d by an example. Every one perceives
that there is an analogy between the different seasons of the year and
the natural di-visions of the day, and between these and the natural
periods of human life. The morning of the day answers by analogy to
the spring of the year, mid-day to summer, evening to autumn, and
night to -winter. Again, the morning and the spring answer to the
season of childhood and youth, mid-day and summer to manhood,
evening and autumn to dechning years, and night and -winter to old
age. However exact and beautiful these may be as analogies, they are
not in the strict sense correspondences ; they all belong to the sphere
of nature. They may serve to point a moral, but they teach no spiritual
truth. They, however, become spiritual correspondences, and teach a
spiritual truth, when they are understood as answering, not to successive
periods of man's natural existence, but to the successive states of his
spiritual hfe, as these follow each other in the progress of his regenera
tion. Under this view morning, spring, and childhood all answer by
correspondence to that season of the spiritual life, at whatever period
of natural hfe it may commence, when the soul is first turned in
sincerity to God, and the thoughts and affections are opened to receive
His light and love, so that the seeds of truth, previously sown in the
mind, begin to germinate. Summer corresponds to that state of
spiritual maturity when religious knowledge ripens into spiritual
inteUigence, and the mind rejoices in the splendour of truth, and the
prospects which that truth opens to its view. Autumn answers to that
state when the splendour of truth has passed into the beauty of hohness,
and religion, from having its primary seat in the intellect, has taken
up its principal abode in the heart, and its energies are determined to

xvi INTRODUCTION.
the fruits of a holy life. Here the analogy might seem to end, for no
winter can close the year, no night can succeed the day, in the
Christian life, but the regenerate soul must be ever advancing to higher
and better states of light and love.^ The analogy however is stUl
complete, for although, in the spiritual life, the winter and the night
do not foUow the autumn and the evening, they precede the spring and
the morning, of the regenerate life. Even in his jjrimeval state man
was in the cold of natural love before he was in the warmth of spiritual
love, and in the darkness of ignorance before he received the light of
knowledge, for " the evening and the morning were the first day."^
Now, however, his night is not only the darkness of ignorance, but the
gross darkness of error ; and his "winter is not only the absence of spiri
tual love, but the presence of spiritual hatred. The beginning of re
generation, the spring-time and morning of the new hfe, is when the
Spirit of God moves upon the face of the waters, and the hght dispels
the darkness, — when the affections are first moved by the influence of
Divine Love, and the thoughts are enlightened -with the light of Divine
Truth. And -when the love and hght of God are admitted into the
mind, and the re-creation of the soul has once commenced, a stedfast
and persevering co-operation with the Lord -will open up a succession
of states increasing in perfection and happiness, and ending in a state
and place, where there is no night and no -winter, where the hght shah
increase more and more unto the perfect day, and where, to reverse the
figure of the poet, autumn shall pour her treasures into the lap of spring,
a spring increasing in freshness and beauty for ever.
^ We here speak of night and winter as permanent states. As temporary states,
alternating with those of day and summer, in the progress of the regenerate life, we
have the assurance of the Divine Word that they shall never cease. Gen. viii. 22.
2 Gen. i. 5.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDmG TO ST. JOHK

CHAPTER I.

The introductory part of this gospel (1-14) treats of a subject at once
the most profound and the most important : the most profound, since
it relates to the infinite nature of God ; and the most important, since
it relates to God in Christ, whom to know is life eternal. The
evangelist brings Jesus before the minds of men first in his Divine
character, as he existed from eternity, and afterwards in his human
character, as he appeared in time. John's gospel is peculiar in this
respect, that it gives precedence and prominence to the subject of the
Lord's divinity. Matthew and Luke commence their gospels with an
account of the Lord's miraculous conception and birth into the world ;
John begins his gospel by showing the pre-existence of him who was
thus conceived and born of a human mother. They present more of
the human, he presents more of the Divine, side of the Lord's dual
nature. Both views are needed to give the mmd a just conception of
the person and work of the Saviour. It was necessary that divinity
and humanity should be united in the person of him who was to
accomplish the great work of human redemption, comprehending in it
the subjugation of the powers of darkness and the restoration and
glorification of man's fallen nature, a work which required a human
nature and a Divine power. This subject is set forth in the particular
statements we have now to consider.
1. The evangehst begins his gospel with the, opening words of
Genesis : In the beginning. In commencing his history of the
redemption of the world he goes back to its creation, not so much to
connect the work of redemption with the work of creation, as to
identify the Redeemer with the Creator. Moses teUs us that in the
becdnning God created the heavens and the earth ; John teUs us that

2 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
in the beginning was the Word, by whom the heavens and the earth
were created. When they began their existence he already existed.
Pre-existence, in this case, is eternal existence-^existence, unlike that
of all other beings, underived and independent.
But the language of the evangelist has a deeper meaning than this ;
whicli may be gathered from the Lord's declaration respecting himself,
when he appeared in his glory to John in Patmos ; " I am the Alpha
and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the
Last, which was, and which is, and which is to come, the Almighty"
(Rev. i. 8, 11). He who thus spake existed indeed from eternity, but
he existed as the Alpha, the Beginning, the First ; after his incarna
tion he existed also as the Omega, the Ending, the Last. The Lord
from eternity was the Word in its first principles — the Word with
God, the Son in the bosom of the Father. As such, all things had
their beginning from him, and he was in the beginning of all things ;
but when he became incarnate, all things had their ending in him,
and he was in the ending of all things. This is the difference between
the Word in its creative and the Word in its redemptive character.
As the Creator he is the Beginning, as the Redeemer he is the Ending
of all things. Considered in relation to man, who is the crowning
work and final cause of creation, this truth may be seen in its true
depth and import. Man was so created, that the Lord might dwell
with him in the first principles of his uncorrupted nature ; and by
being thus in the beginning of all his mental activities, of his affections
aud thoughts, and thence of his words and works, might rule and
direct the whole man, as the moral image of his jMaker.
The Word, the name by which the apostle characterizes him whose
incarnation he is about to declare, is a term that had been employed
long before the time of John, to express that principle in the Deity
which is analogous to reason in man. It is supposed either to
have been introduced by early Christian converts from those philo
sophical sects who used it, or to have been employed by early Christian
teachers, to explain to GeutUe hearers an important Scripture doctrine
by means of a term with which they were already familiar ; and that
this term, used in a Christian sense, was finally consecrated to the
sei-vioe of the Lord, by being inscribed in the kst of the gospels.
This is a striking instance of Divine truth clothing itself in the forms
of human thought. A term which had become the common si'^-n of
a human idea is taken up by an inspired writer, to become hencefor
ward the continent and vehicle of a Divine truth. Yet we are to
reflect that heathen thoughts on Divine subjects are not always human

Chap. I. j ST. JOHN. 3
in their origin, but, when not derived from the contemporary church,
are often the fragmentary truths of an ancient revelation, the tradi
tional forms of a primeval faith. Man can take nothing supernatural
except it be given him from heaven.
There is a substantial agreement among Christian writers, from the
earliest to the present times, re.specting the idea intended to be con
veyed by the Word, as a name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Divine
Consciousness, Reason, Understanding, Idea, Thought, Wisdom —
these are variously given as equivalents for the name by which the
eternal Word is here set forth, in his internal relation to God and in
his external relation to the world and to man.
While all agree in regarding the Word as the eternal Wisdom,
almost aU unite in maintaining, that the Word is not an abstract
quality but an entity ; or, as it would now be generally expressed, is not
an attribute but a person. What the Latin Church expressed by the
word persona, the Greek Church expressed by the word hypostasis.
What was the exact theological meaning of the word persona, at the
time it was first employed, or subsequently introduced into the
Athanasian Creed, to express the nature of the distinction in the
Godhead, is not absolutely certain ; nor is it perhaps of much
importance, since all sound theologians admit that it is a term of
expediency rather than of propriety, and as such is not to be under
stood, hke our word person, to mean a distinct individual being. The
( jreek word hyiiostasis means a basis or substance ; and is intended
to express the idea, that God and the Word are not mere attributes,
but are the subjects of attributes.
That there is a real, and not merely a nominal, distinction in the
Di-^'ine nature, is evident from many parts of Scripture, from none
more clearly than the statement we are now considering, which
speaks of God and the Word as existing distinctly and unitedly
from eternity. While the Scriptures contain the doctrine of a Divine-
trinity, they emphatically declare the Divine unity ; and no doctrine
of the trinity can be scriptural, which is not consistent with the abso
lute oneness of God. There being a trinity in the Divine nature,,
of what does this trinity consist? In the nature of God there are
three Divine essentials, wliich are Love, Wisdom, antl Power. These
form a trinity in unity. They can neither be confounded nor divided.
Distinct as essentials, they necessarily constitute but one person. Thus
understood, the subject involves no conflicting elements of thought.
The mind can harmoniously combine the idea of the Divine trinity
with that of the Divine unity.

4. ST. JOHN. L*^^'^^- '^•
This view may seem liable to the objectioii, that if makes the'
Divine trinity a trinity of attributes. But Love, Wisdom, and Power
axe not mere attributes ; they are essentials of the Divine nature, the
subjects of attributes. God is sometimes spoken of as a substance,
of which Love, Wisdom, and Power are qualities. This is an idea
borrowed from the nature of finite beings, and transferred without
qualification to the Infinite. Man is an organized form, created for the
reception of love and -wisdom ; but God is Love itself, and Wisdom
itself. Love and Wisdom are not mere qualities of the Divine sub
stance, but the Divine substance itself. They are the Divine wiU
and the Divine understandmg ; for the Divine -will can be nothing
but infinite love, and the Divine understanding, can be nothing but
infinite wisdom ; and to these, as constituting the Di-vine mind, nay,
the very Divine Essence, ah attributes belong ; Power, the third
essential of the Deity, being Love aid Wisdom as the Divine Proceed
ing, or Operation, which is the Holy Spirit.
While the Scriptures teach that God and the Word are distinct, but
'CO-eternal and co-equal, they also teach that the Word from eternity
was from God as well as with God. Understanding God and the Word
to be the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, we can see the truth of
-this ; for Love is the parent of Wisdom. Love is the eternally begetting.
Wisdom is the eternally begotten. Divine Love begets Divine Wisdom
. as human affection begets human thought ; or as the mind expresses
itself by words. All intelligent commentators, ancient and modern,
. substantially agree with this view of tlie subject. One of the early
Fathers treating of the present test speaks thus: — "Now turn thy
. attention to that Word. If thou ca -ist have a word in thy heart, as
it were a design or idea engendered in thy mind, thy mind giving
bu'th to the design, and the design being in thy mind, the oflspriug,
-SO to speak, of thy mind, the chUd of thy heart. For, first, the heart
gives birth to an idea, suppose, of constructing some work of art, of
some vast edifice on the earth : here is the idea abeady born into
¦existence, and the work not yet finished : thou seest what thou art
.about to make ; but another does not admire thy work until thou hast
made and reared the pUe, and brought the work to its last shape aud
finish : then men take note of the admirable workmanship, and admire
the idea of the work-master ; they marvel at what they see and are
delighted with what they do not see : who is there that can see an
idea ? If then from some great work of art praise is given to the idea
of man, wouldest thou see what an Idea of God is our Lord Jesus
Christ, that is, the Word of God ? See Avhat has been uiade by the

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 5
Word, anil then wilt thou understand what the Word is. Look to
these two bodies of the world, the heavens and the earth. What
words can express the glorious array of the heavens? What
words can express the prolific fruitfuluess of the earth?"
Substantially the same view of the subject is presented by modern
-writers. If we regard the Word, or the Son, as the " eternal thought of
Divine love," as expressed by one, and consider the eternal generation
of the Son as " God thinking himself," as expressed by another,
there can be no reason.tble objection to the doctrine of his eternal
generation. " For," as a recent author observes, " from the womb of
life only life and being can flow forth, moreover, the original Word,
or original thought of the eternal God, can only be the consciousness
of himself, and which, as perfect consciousness, is equivalent to God."
Some of the early Christian writers compared the eternal generation
of the Son by the Father to the issuing of light froiu the sun. And
as it is the very nature of the sun to give forth light, the sun and its
light must have been oo-existent : so it is the very nature of God to
give birth to the Word, which must, therefore, be co-eternal with himself
Those statements and explanations of so profound a subject com
mend themselves to our reason. But is not the idea of distinct per
sonality, each Divine person having a consciousness of his own,
inconsistent with reason, and with every just idea of the nature and
unity of God ? Can the thought, idea, or consciousness of God be
a distinct person from, or in, God himself? To nial^e Divine thought
a distinct person in God is comparatively as inconsistent as to make
human thought a distinct person in man. We have already seen that
the wisdom of God is not a mere attribute, but is an essential of the
Divine nature ; and this agrees with all the teaching of revelation, and
satisfies aU the demands of reason. The Word of God is the Wisdom
of God ; and this will be seen more clearly from what John says-
further respecting the Word which was with God and was God.
2. TlLe same was in the, hegiiming with God. This is generally
understood to be in contrast with the statement that occurs at the
fourteenth verse. The Word, which iu the beginning was God, in the
fulness of time became incarnate, that he might dwell among men.
Unless this be the meaning of the apostle, the present statement has
much the appearance of being a repetition of that which precedes. In
the Word, however, there are no useless repetitions. If there be any
difficulty iu regard to the literal sense, there is none with respect to the
spiritual. The beginning, spiritually considered, means the begin
ning of regeneration, which is a uew creation, the creation of a new

6 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
heart and a right spirit. But regeneration has two beginnings. Every
state formed in the mind before instruction is a beginning, considered
as an initiament of what is good ; and every state formed by means of
instruction is a beginning considered as a commencement of what is
true. The first is the beginning of spiritual life in the will, and the
¦second is the beginning of spiritual life in the understanding. The
tirst forms the germ of spiritual love ; the second forms the rudiment
•of spiritual faith. The first is dei-ived more especially from the
Divine love ; the second is derived more especially from the Divine
wisdom. These are the beginnings which, by the Divine mercy, are
made in the mind of every one, and without which regeneration in
.after life would be impossible. This is a Di-vine work effected in the
-interiors of the mind, before the Lord has become manifested and an
object of apprehension.
3. All things were made hy him, and witliout him was not anything
made that loas made. Creation is a purely Divine work, and can only
-have been performed by an Almighty Being. Self-evident to most of
-us as this truth is, it was not so clearly seen at the time John's gospel
"was written. It was then believed by a philosophical sect, which
-licvd partially received and greatly corrupted Christianity, that creation
'vva.s the work of an inferior and malignant being, and that Christ, a
¦superior and benevolent being, had been sent by the Supreme God to
rredeem the world from the evil inherent in it by creation. Extra
vagant as such a notion may seem, it is but another form of the belief
that creation, or that preservation which is perpetual creation, is the
result of secondary causes, and that redemption is not a purely Di-vine
work. The evangelist, to those who receive his testimony, sets both
these questions at rest. Creation and redemption are Divine works,
both effected by the same Being.
But these words of John express much more than this. They tell
us that creation was not only a work of infinite power, but of infinite
love and wisdom. This is not so readhy seen from his words as given
in our version. The evangelist states that all things were made by
means of the Word, or through him as a medium ; and this ia the
invariable testimony of the Scriptures. In creation, as in redemp
tion, the Word was the instrument, God was the agent. In regard to
redemption, this is plainly stated by Paul : " God was in Christ recon
cihng the world unto himself" (1 Cor. x. 18). The same is declared
respecting creation: "God created ah things by Jesus Christ" (Gid.
iii. 9). " To us there is one God the Father, of whom are aU things,
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things" (1 Cor. viii. G).

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 7
" For by (or through) him were all things created that are in heaven,
and that are in earth, visible and invisible " (CoL i. 16). God, from
his infinite love, created all things by his infinite wisdom. Creation
had its end in Divine love and its cause in Divme wisdom. Simple
yet grand, this truth commends itself to our understandings aud
appeals to our hearts. It tells us not only that the world in which
we live, but that we ourselves who live in it, are by creation all that
Divine love, operating by wisdom, could make us, so as to enable us to
reahze the greatest possible degree of creatiu-ely perfection and happi
ness. And as creation implies Providence, it assures us that the same
infinite love and wisdom that created us watch continually over us
for our spiritual and eternal good, and for our temporal welfare also,
as subordinate to the final cause of creation. How different and
superior is this to the common view of the subject. How can we
conceive of one Divine person creating the world by means of another ?
But admitting it to have been so, what does it teach us respecting
creation ? It tells us that it is the work of God, but it teUs us nothing
more ; but here we find a revelation both of the Divine purpose in
which creation originated and of the Divine intelligence by which it
was eff'ected.
4. Of the Word it is said, in Mm was life, and the life was the
light of men. There is no word in human language more expressive
of Deity, none of more profound significance, than the word Life.
The grand distinction between the Creator and the creature is this :
the Creator is life, the creature is a recipient of life. I am is the
incommunicable appeUation of the Deity ; this is his name for ever,
and this is his memorial throughout all generations. Of us, on the
contrary, it is said. In him we live and move and have our being.
Creation, strictly considered, does not include hfe. Life is not
creatable. Organisms are created, life is imparted; organisms are
given by creation, life is given by influx. Entirely different was it
with the Word. In him was life. It did not flow into him as a
stream, but was, and is, in him as its fountain. He has the hfe which
is characteristic of Deity — life in himself, as the Lord declared : "As
the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given unto the Son to
have life in himself" (chap. v. 26). But the statement of the
evangelist has a still more specific meaning than this, which can only
be seen when the Word is understood to be the eternal Wisdom, as it
existed from eternity iu union with eternal Love. Considered in it
self. Life is the inmost activity of Divine love and wisdom. But as
love is within wisdom, comparatively as heat is within light, life is

¦§ ST. JOHN. [Chap. I.
predicated of love, as light is of wisdom. Love is the life of
wisdom, as wisdom is the light of love. When John says of the
Word that in him was life, he reveals this blessed truth, that in the
Divine wisdom there ever was, and ever is, the Divine love. The
Word that framed the worlds was the infinite wisdom of infinite love ;
nay, it was love itself as wisdom, life itself as light. Divine -wisdom
is not a receptacle of Divine love, but love itself existing as -wisdom ;
life putting itself forth as light; the Infinite clothing himself with
light as with a garment. Therefore does John say that the life which
was in the Word was itself the light of men. The life and light of
God, like the heat and light of the sun, may be separated in their
finite recipients, but they flow from their source as one. In that
" beginning," when man was yet the moral image of his Maker, they
were received by their human recipients united. The life was then
truly the light of men ; for the life of love in the -will became the
light of wisdom in the understanding. And stUl, iu the inmost of
every soul, where life is in its beginning. Divine love as Di-vine wisdom
is the light of men ; for there the Lord has his secret habitation, be-
sto-wiug on all the gift of immortality, on the good the blessing of
happiness, and even on the evil the faculties of liberty and reason.
The truth which the evangelist makes known is, that the Word,
which became flesh, had in himself that life which the world needed
for its revivification, as well as .the light it required for its enlighten
ment. This is well expressed by the same apostle in his first general
epistle, " That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon,
and our hands have handled, of the Word of life ; for the life was
manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you
that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto
us" (i. 1). But how inexpressibly grand and comforting does this truth
become to us, when we know that life is love, and thus that the Divine
life which was in the Word, and was manifested ui the person of
Christ, was the Divine love itself Divine love works ever by
Di-vine wisdom, as human love works by human intelligence ; so
that in all the Divine works love is the moving, as wisdom is the
eflicient, caiise.
5. And tlie light shineth in darlmess and the darkness comprehended
it not. The state and condition of man, which rendered the manifesta
tion of the Lord as the light necessary, is now described. The light
shone in the soul, but su3h was the darkness of the mind that it
did not enlighten. Originally the human mind was open through

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 9
aU its degrees from the highest to the lowest, and the Divine light
which entered through the highest degree of the mind descended
through all intermediate degrees to the lowest. By the fall and sub
sequent declension of the human race the mind became .successively
closed against the light of truth, which then shone in the darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. The light of the Divine Sun
shines constantly in the human mind, and in every mind alike ; but
the degree of enlightenment which the mind receives from it depends
on the condition of the mind itself Spiritual, like natural light, only
becomes visible when it falls upon and is reflected by suitable objects.
The objects of spiritual light are truths that have been acquired frora
tvithout through the medium of the senses. It is from the perpetual
presence of this light that the mind has the faculty of seeing, that is
of understanding ; but it is only as the mind is supplied with truths
that reflect the light that the mind actually' sees or understands. The
di-vine light shines in the soul of the new-born infant, but it shines
as yet in darkness, and the darkness comprehends it not. As the mind
is supplied from withcmt with truths as knowledges, the inner light
falls on these as on its proper objects, and in proportion as it is truly
and fully reflected, the mind becomes intelligent. When the light
fahs upon truths relating to nature it becomes the light of science ;
but when it falls upon truths relating to the spiritual world and the
spiritual life it becomes the light of religion. The truths that are the
highest objects of this light are those which are revealed in the written
Word. When therefore the light of the eternal Word falls upon and
is reflected by the genuine truths of the written Word the mind is
truly and spiritually enlightened. On the other hand, when the objects
-with which the mind is supplied are not genuine but apparent truths,
the light is imperfectly reflected; but when it falls upon errors instead
of truths, or upon truths falsified, the light is turned into darkness.
The darkness in which the evangelist tells us the light of life shone,
was the darkness both of ignorance and error — ignorance especially
among the Gentiles, and error among the Jews. The human mind had
become perverted by evil, and the light either shone into emptiness or
fell upon objects which absorbed and suffocated all its rays, and so pre
sented nothing to the perceptive faculty but darkness and gloom. Such
had become the general state of mankind before the time of the Lord's
coming into the world. Two things were required to remedy this
helpless and hopeless condition of the human race, a new operation of
the eternal Word from within and of the written Word from without.
The Baptist represented the written Word, Jesus hunself was the

10 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
eternal Word, and the new operation of these is described in the
gospel 6 — 8. There was a man sent from God whose name was Jolm.
When the Lord's forerunner is announced by name, one which, like
that of the Lord himself, was given him from heaven before his birth,
we must regard it as significant of the official and representative char
acter he was to sustain. " John'' is a contraction of Johanan, which
occurs several times in the Old Testament, and which itself is a con
traction of Jehohanan. Like other names of this formation it combines
part of the Divine name of Jehovah with a word which has a suitable
meaning. John signifies Jehovah graciously gave. Jehovah being
the name of God which is most expressive of Ms love ; " John'' was
tt suitable name for one who represented the written Word, as a gift
of divine love, and who was to prepare the way of Him who was
the Divine Love itself manifest in the flesh.
7, 8. The description which is here given of John answers pre
cisely to his official and representative character. Tlie same came for
a witness, to hear witness of the light, that all men through Him might
believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear icitness of that
light. The written Word is the witness of the inward light, because,
as we have seen, the inward light is oidy visible to us when it is
reflected by the truths of the written Word as objects existing in
our minds. These truths are not themselves the light, but they are wit
nesses of the light ; they are sent and come for a witness, and the
purpose of their testimony is, that all men through them may beheve.
Thej^ are the materials of which faith is formed, the life and hght
of which are immediately from the Lord himself They form the
body of faith, of which he is the soul. John came to prepare the
way of the Lord. He did this personally at the time of the Lord's
coming into the world, and he does this representatively, when the
Lord makes his advent into the mind prepared by repentance for his
reception. The way of the Lord, as the inward light, can only be pre
pared by the teaching of the written Word, when that Word is under
stood in its true sense. It was, therefore, to teach the truth of the
Word, in the church where it had been perverted, that John came as
the Lord's forerunner, and it Avas the Word, thus restored, of which he
-VI as the representative.
9. John now delivers his testimony as witness of the light. That
was the true light lohicli lighteth every man that cometh into the leorld.
Jesus is the true light, not only in opposition to all false lights, but the
true and actual as distinguished from the shadowy and representative

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 11
or as light in its origin is distinguished from light received and re
flected. Before the incarnation this light came to men intlirectly,
through finite channels, or by the mediation of angels ; it had now
come to men directly from the Lord, through the mediation of his
humanity. This distinction is very clearly set before us in this
chapter. In the 17th verse, where John is called a burning and a
shining hght, another word for light is used, which means a lamp ; so
that John is spoken of as an instrumental means for giving light, but
Jesus as the light itself. The Lord, as the eternal Word, is the true
light, because he is the truth itself, which is the everlasting and
universal light. The human mind being an organized form, created
for the reception of light, it is rather a lamp than a light, having, in
itself, no light but that which it receives from above. In the inspir«3d
declaration, that Jesus is the true light that lighteth every man, we
have the assurance, that divine light shines into every human mind.
The Lord is the light of the intellectual world. We could no more see
intehectually without this Divine light, than we could see physically
without the light of the sun. Indeed, the Lord is, not figuratively
but actually, the sun of the spiritual woild, by the light of which
angels and spirits see ; and by the light of which men see intel
lectually and spiritually ; for men, as to their spirits, are in the
spiritual world ; the only difference between them and angels being,
that they are not visibly present there, as those are who have put
off the natural body. The light of reason as well as of truth is derived
from the Lord as a sun.
Spiritually, every man that cometh into the world is every truth of
the revealed Word that is introduced into the mind, from the earliest'
to the latest period of life. The truths of revelation are not them
selves light, but are the receptacles of light, or the objects on which
the light faUs. The spirit of truth from the Lord, which enters
through the interiors of the mind, finds its fitting receptacles in the
truths of revelation that have entered through the senses from with
out. When the spirit of truth enters the thoughts, it enlightens
them; when it enters the affections, it animates them. So long as the
truths of the Word remain in the natural mind as facts, they are but
the dry bones in the valley; it is only when the spirit enters into them
that they live, and become au exceeding great army.
10, 11. The Lord, as the light, was in the world and the church
before his manifestation in the flesh. The world was made hy him,
and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own
received him not. The Lord, as the Creator and sustainer of the

12 ST. JOHN. [Chap. I.
world, was in it, both as the inward light which shone in all minds,
and in the manifestations and revelations which he made of himself
through angels and men. It is a sign of deep depravity and sinful
ness when God is shut out from the world which he has made.
God's highest purpose in creatine;- the world was, that he might dwell
in the souls of men, whom he had created in his own image and for
a state of eternal happiness. The soul of man is peculiarly " his
own.'' He formed it for himself; he created it as his peculiar
habitation. The same may be said of the church, which was designed to
be his kingdom upon earth. The church is formed by the truth, and
enlightened and animated by the spirit of truth. The church, formed
by the truths of the Word received into the minds of men, only be
comes a living soul when the Lord breathes into it the breath of life.
When the Lord comes to the church he comes to his own, because
the truths which formed the church are his. But when these truths
are perverted or falsified, they reject or suffocate the light ; and then
when the Lord comes to his own, his own receive him not. A disr
tinction is made between the world that knew him not aud his ovra
that received him not. Literally, his own are those who form his
visible church, aud the world are those who are without the church,
or who form the world as distinguished from the church. SpirituaUy,
the world are those who are in the knowledge of truth, and his own
are those who are in the knowledge of good, or are those knowledges
themselves abstractly considered. Neither in the church nor in the
world, neither by those who were in the knowledges of faith or of
charity was the Lord, as the light, received. The church and the
world equaUy refused the true hght, and therefore lay in darkness.
Such was the prevailing state of mankind before the coming of the
Lord. 12. Although the rejection of the Lord's light and life had been
general, it had not been universal. Some had received him. And
as many as received him, to them gave he jwwer to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name. To receive the Lord is
to admit the spirit of his love into the affections, and to believe on
his name is to receive the spirit of his truth into the understandmg.
But it is those only who both receive him and beheve in his name, or
who unite in them'selves good and truth, or love and faith, that receive
power to become the sons of God : for it is only such that can be
born of God or regenerated. Abstractly considered, those who receive
and believe are the truths themselves in the mind into which the spirit
of the Lord's love aud truth is received, and by, the reception of

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 33
which they receive po-wer to become the sons of God. AU the power
of truth is derived from good, as all the power of good is exercised
by truth. Sphitual power is not in either separately, but in both
unitedly. 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the toill of the flesh, nor
of the will. of man, but of God. Two kinds of birth are here men
tioned — birth of blood, of the will of the flesh, or of the will of
man, and birth of God. In this a most important doctrine is delivered.
No one is natiu'ally born for hell. All are born for heaven ; and any
one dyiug in the state in which he is born, or before he has' confirmed
himself in evil, goes to heaven. No one indeed is born in a state fit
either for heaven or heU ; that is, no one is born heavenly minded or
iufernaUy minded ; no one is born either a child of God or a child of
the devil. A second birth is necessary to make any one either.
Heaven consists in the union of goodness and truth, aud hell consists
hi the union of evh. and falsity. No one is born in possession, much
less m the union, of these principles. Every one, therefore, has
to acquire and unite them, before he can enter either heaven or hell.
This can only be effected by being born of God on the one hand, or of
the devil on the other ; man thus becoming either a chUd of God or a
child of the devil. It is sometimes said there are but two states and
two places : good and evil, heaven and hell : and that whatever is not
good is evh, whatever is not heaven is hell. No doubt the final state
and place of every one is either good or evQ, heaven or hell. But
there is an intermediate state which is neither good nor evil, neither
righteous nor -wicked. This may be called the state of positive and
even of comparative ignorance. All are born into it and remain in it
tUl they come to the age of reason, but ail, whatever be their age, are
in it who are in comparative ignorance of what is good and true, evil
and false, and who have not confirmed and united e-vil and falsity in
themselves. All who die in infancy pass immediately into heaven,
-»ud are there placed under the care of angels ; but although they are
'ji heaven they are not of heaven, although they are among the angels
they are not themselves angels, until they have arrived at the fuU
measure of the stature of angehc life, until, in fact, the union of
goodness and truth, or of love and faith has been effected in their
minds ; this union being heaven.
In the spiritual sense those who are born of blood are they who do
'vdoleucc to charity and profane truth, those who are born of the will
of the flesh are they who are in the evils of self-love, and those who
are born of the wUl of man are they who are in the persuasion of what

14 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
is false ; but those who are born of the wHI of God are they who are
regenerate by the Lord, and are thence new creatures. * These are they
who receive the Lord, and who believe in his name, and to whom he
gives power to become the sons of God.
14. An event which no human words could adequately describe is set
forth in the simplest language : And the 'Word was made flesh. Yet this
simple announcement contains an infinity of great ideas. The event itself
was the effect and the expression of infinite love, as it was the immediate
manifestation of the e ternal wisdom. The incarnation was the complement
of creation ; and a more complete manifestation ofthe love and wisdom of
God than even revelation and Providence. It involved and provided for
a new and spiritual creation, without which the purpose of the first
would not have been realized. Incredible as it may appear that God
should become man, yet it involves no contradiction. Although there
is no proportion, there is a relation, between the infinite nature of
God and the finite nature of man, which rendered the assumption
of humanity, however marvellous, entirely consistent with Divine
order. The Word which was made flesh was man's Prototype as
well as his Creator. God not only created man, but he made him
in his image and likeness. The Divine could not have assumed the
human, if it had not been, by creation, a likeness of itself. There
was, however, one important peculiarity in the Lord's case, which ren
dered it possible for God to dwell bodily in the person of Christ.
The assumed humanity was not merely the creature but the offspring
of the Divinity. Jesus was not merely created, but begotten of God.
That, therefore, which every mere man inherits from his human
father, and wliich is both finite and corrupt, the Lord had not ; but in
its place he had a principle divine and immaculate. This may be
called the soul from the Father. The human soul is the inmost recep
tacle of life from God, but the Lord's soul was life itself, and therefore
.Divine. The divine soul of the humanity is not to be confounded
with the soul which was sorrowful unto death, and which he laid
down. This is the rational soul {psyche), which alone could sorrow
iiud die. The humanity of the Lord being thus both of divine and of
human extraction, Jesus was at once the Son of God and the Son of
Man. From his very birth, his humanity, outwardly of the nature
of his finite aud sinful mother, was mwardly of the nature of his in
finite and perfect Father. In virtue of this, the Lord, unlilje every
other man, could receive the Sphit without measure, and could make
his humanity, not only finitely, but infinitely, perfect. Had not Jesus
been begotten of God, aU the fulness of the Godhead could not dwell

Chap. I.J ST. JOHN. 15
in him. Nor could it have been said that " the Word was made flesh."
And yet this is the grand truth respecting the Lord's incarnation. God
became man. The language in which this truth is here expressed has
a peculiar significance. Flesh is another name for humanity, but for
humanity as it exists in the natural world. Angels are men, but they
are spirit and not flesh. When God assumed flesh he became man as
man exists on earth. At sundry times God had appeared personally
among men ; and is sometimes caUed a man, sometimes au angel. On
these occasions the Lord assumed human nature as it is in heaven, by
filling an angel with his presence. But these manifestations were only
temporary and for special purposes ; they had no redemptive effect on
the general condition of the race. They did not bring the divine
presence down into the fleshly element of human nature, to redeem it
from disorder and death. The Lord could indeed have assumed the
nature of man as he had assumed the nature of angels, by so filling a
man with his presence as to absorb his consciousness and sense of
indi-viduahty ; but neither would this have availedfor the redemption and
salvation of the race. This required not merely that the Lord should
put on flesh, but that he should be made flesh ; that he should be born
and live and die as a man, and as a man rise from the dead and ascend
into heaven. AU this implies more than the assumption of human
nature ; it implies its glorification. Redemption and salvation required
not only that God should be made man, but that man should be made
God — that the Divine should be made human, and the human Divine.
In a certain sense, God became man by incarnation, and man became
God by glorification. Such a dual work could not be effected except
in a humanity begotten of God and born of a human mother.
But there is a deeper sense than this in which the Word was made
flesh. In the Lord the Divine was made human, not only in the
womb but in the world — by putting ou humanity not only by birth,
but by a life of human experience. In the strict, or at least in the
fuU sense, a human being is not a man at his birth ; he is but the
"erm or rudiment of a man ; he becomes human by means of human
knowledge and experience. Nay, a man is not truly human tiU he is
bom again ; for then only is he raised to the true condition of humanity.
So with the Lord himself as a man. The Word was made flesh, in
the absolute sense, and in the supereminent degree, when the flesh
itself was no longer of the substance of the mother, but of the sub
stance of the Father. And such it was when the Lord said of his
risen body, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." That body in which,

16 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
the door being shut, the Lord stood in the midst of his disciples, was
not a material body. But it was not on that account the less sub
stantial. The point, however, which we are now considering, is not
so much the glorification' as the assumption of human nature, by
which the Word literaUy dwelt among us. By taking human nature
upon him, he who was with God became God with us. He dwelt,
or tabernacled, among us. The human nature which he assumed was
the tabernacle, of which that in the wUdnerness was the type, he
being the Sliekinah, the ineffable glory, which dwelt hi it; or in the
language of the Scriptures themselves, he was the Di"vine name
which the Lord had placed there — the Word which was incarnate,
being the Divine name itself, as revealing and manifesting the other
wise incomprehensible nature of God. As the Word made flesh has a
deeper meaning than simple incarnation, his dwelling among us means
more than his visible presence in the world. The Lord dwelt among
us that he might dwell in us, as indeed the word might be rendered.
He made his humanity the temple of his Divinity, that he might
make us temples of his Holy Spirit, temples in which he might
dweU with the spirit of his love and truth, according to the true
sense of his own declaration : " If a man love me he wUl keep my
words : and my Father wiU love him, and we wiU come unto him
and make our abode with him." To dwell with us therefore spirituaUy
means to dwell in us.
By the Lord dwelling among us, we beheld his glory. The glory
which shone in Jesus was not the outward splendour which strikes and
pleases the senses, but the inward refulgence thtit penetrates and affects
the mind. The glory of Jesus, beheld by those who had eyes to
see it, was that which shone forth from his benignity and holiness,
from his words of wisdom and Avorks of love.
That which the faithful beheld was the glory as ofthe only begotten
(f the Father. We have already (ver. 1) spoken of the eternal relation
between the Divine love and the Divine wisdom, as analogous to that
between father and son. The actual sonship of the Lord Jesus wUl
be considered when we come to verse 18, where the names Father and
Son first occur ; and are introduced -with strict propriety after the
Lord's incarnation has been treated of Here we observe thtxt the
Divine humanity of the Lord was the only begotten of the F'ather.
That which men beheld in Jesus was not the glory itself of the onh-
begotten, but the glory as of the only begotten. The only begotten of
the Father was that interior humtin principle which the Lord derived
from the Divine Father, as distinguished from that which he derived

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 17
from the human mother, indeed that principle considered as Divine
goodness ; the divine truth in union with this is called glory, which
is the effiUgence of divine truth. The glory of the Lord's paternal
humanity was only seen, on ordinary occasions, through the maternal
humanity which veiled it. That glory shone forth on the Mount of
Transfiguration, when the disciples were exalted into a higher than
their ordinary state, and saw with their spiritual eyes the inner glory
which the maternal humanity obscured, but did not entirely conceal.
The grace and truth of which the Saviour was full, are his divine
love and wisdom humanized, and so brought near to men in the Lord's
humanity, and freely offered to them for their salvation. The Lord,
as God, being Love itseU' and Wisdom itself, as man, his fulness of grace
and truth was without measure. " It pleased the F'ather that in him
all fulness should dwell" (Col. i. 19) ; and no attribute can be other
than infinite in him, " in whom dweUeth aU the fulness of the God
head bodily" {ib. ii. 9).
15. It was of this gracious and wise Being that John bare wit
ness and cried, saying. This was he of whom I spjake. He that cometh
after me is preferred before me : for he was before me. John testified
to the Lord's priority to himself, both as to rank and time. It is
hardly necessary to insist upon the priority of Jesus to John, after
the distinct enunciation of the truth, that he was the Eternal Word
incarnate. The present declaration has, however, another purpose and
a higher meaning. John, we have seen, represented the written Word,
Jesus was the Word itself incarnate. John especially represented the
Word as -written for men, and as understood in the church on earth ;
the Lord was the Word or the Divine Truth itself, who made and fills
all things, the source of life and the fountain of light to angels and
men. But it is said of Jesus that, coming after John, he was preferred
before him. This is true in every sense. The law which our Lord
announced : " The first shall be last, and the last first," was eminently
exemplified in the case of John and himself The written Word comes
before, aud prepares the way of, the incarnate Word, as the life and
light of men, and then takes the last place, Jesus himself taking the
first. In like manner, in reference to the revealed Word, apparent
truth comes before genuine truth, and the literal sense before the spiri
tual. We may also say that spiritual truth comes before celestial, and
celestial before divine. Yet, in each of these cases, that which comes
after is preferred before that which precedes, and, indeed, was before
it ; for the lower is derived from the higher, and yet is the necessary
means by which it is attained. ?.

18 ST. JOHN. [Chap. I
16. John therefore says of the incarnate Word, And of his fulness
have all we received, and grace for grace. We have already (v. 14)
spoken of the fulness that dwelt in Jesus, as being aU fuhiess, even the
fulness of the Godhead. But this term has a pecuharly important
meaning in reference to the Word made flesh. By incarnation the
Lord became Divine Truth in ultimates, and in ultimates divine truth
is ill its fulness and in its power. Why is it so important to us that
all fuhiess should dweU in Jesus Christ, or in the Lord's humanity ?
Because in him the divine perfections are brought nearer, and made more
accessible to us. The humanity of the Lord is nearer to us, that is,
nearer to our state and condition, than his divinity. In his humanity
the fulness of Divine Love and Wisdom is brought mto a nearer rela
tion to fallen and frail humanity. The fulness that dwelt, and that
dweUs, ill Jesus, is that out of which aU men are sujjphed. Of his
fulness have all we received. His humanity is the fountain which is
opened for us, from which flow unfaUing streams of love and mercy.
But not only have we aU received of his fulness ; we have all re
ceived grace for grace. This is a pecuhar phrase, and has given rise to ¦
considerable discussion. From the words of the evangelist, which fol
low, the grace must be understood as that which came by Jesus
Christ. It has no such meaning, therefore, as substituted grace. The
literal sense of the passage, as agreed on by the most eminent commen
tators, is, grace upon grace, which means abounding grace : " Where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound " (Rom. v. 20). As the
divine fulness of our Lord is connected with this phrase, we must sup
pose that both are intended to express his abounding goodness and
ti'uth brought near and freely offered to aU men, but received only
by sincere disciples. Grace is commonly understood to mean di-vine ¦
fa-^^our, offered to sinners through Jesus Christ, as the great sacrifice for
sm. Rightly understood, there can be no objection to this. Grace is
the sister of mercy, and both are the offspring of love. Whether we
speak of grace or mercy or love, it is substautially the same. We owe
aU our salvation and the means of it to the divuie love, of which grace
is but an adaptation to our necessities. To speak of divine grace as
favour purchased for us by the sufferings and righteousness of Christ, is
not to speak the language of Canaan, but a language unliuown to the
true church, and to the Word of God. Abounding grace is abounding
love. 17. John comes now to explain the reason of this : Fur the laio icas
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesns Christ. The law '
which was given by Moses and the grace and truth that came by Jesus

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 19
Christ are related to each other as the Jewish and Christian dispensa
tions, as Judaism and Christianity, as the law and the gospel. These
two are in strong contrast, and yet iu perfect harmony with each other.
They are to each other as type and antitype, shadow and svtbstance,
letter and spirit. Between these there is a wide distinction, and yet
an intimate relation. Like and unlike, near and yet apart, touching
but not uniting, the law and the gospel stand side by side in the Word,,
as two successive manifestations of the goodness and wisdom of God,,
iu relation to his fallen and sinful creatures. Not only was the law the-,
type but the harbinger of the gospel. " The law was our schoolmaster-
tc bring us to Christ." This figure presents the law under the idea of"
one whose office it is to prepare the mind for receiving the lessons of a; ,
higher instructor. Yet the law is very generally regarded as a j udge
rather than a teacher, and one whose only function it is to pronounce
the sentence of condemnation. Singular that such an idea should have
entered the minds of men ! This is partly owing to confounding the
moral with the ceremonial law, and supposing that an eternal law was
swept away with the statutes of a temporary dispensation. The moral
luw must be the rule of life under every dispensation. It is much
older than the time of Moses. The commandments which were written
with the finger of God on tables of stone, were the same laws of eternal
order that had been originaUy inscribed by the Creator on the tables of
the human heart. And all that Christ did, and all that Christianity is
to do, is to write them, upon the table of the heart again, that man
may become what he originaUy was, and act, not by rules, but from
principles. "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with.
the house of Israel ; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my
law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and will .
be their God, and they shaU be my people" (Jer. xxxi. 33; 2 Cor.,
viii. 7-10). The old covenant was established on the letter of the law,,
the condition being outward obedience ; the new covenant is established
on the spirit of the law, and thus on inward principle. The grace anil
truth that came by Jesus Christ were not substitutes for the law, but
supplements to it : truth to explain its deep meaning to the under
standing, and grace to imprint it deeply on the heart. Grace and
truth, in reference to the Lord as their source, are his love and wisdom;
and in reference to man, as their recipient, are charity and faith. The
Cliristian graces of charity and faith came by Jesus Chiist ; and these'
are the spirit of which the Mosaic law was the letter, the substance of
which Judaism was the shadow.
What has been said of the lawand the gospel in reference tothe '

20 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
church and the race, is true of them in Te.spect to the indi-vidual.
Every one must be under the law as a schoolmaster, to bring him to
Christ, as the great Teacher. He must learn and obey the law of di
vine order as a rule, before he can possess and act from it as a prin
ciple ; he must be a disciple of Moses before he can be a disciple of
Jesus ; he must be under the law before he can be under grace.
18. Christ is not only the giver of sphitual and saving gifts, but the
revealer of their previously hidden source and unseen author. No
man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, wliich is in the
ibosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Instead of God and the
Word, we now hear of the Father and the Son. Not tiU the time of
the Incarnation are these names used to express the nature of the dis
tinction in the Godhead, and then first in reference to it. Then only,
indeed, were the names first literally applicable. The humanity be
gotten of God and born of the Virgin Mary was the actual and only
begotten Son of God. But these names, thus tised to express the
paternal and filial relationship between the begetting Divinity and the
begotten humanity, were afterwards applied analogically to express the
relation between the Divine Love and Wisdom, or between God and the
Word, as they existed from eternity. This distinction, and therefore
the names by which it is expressed, are peculiar to the New Testament.
Why do the names Father and Son never occur iu the Old Testament,
in reference to this distinction in the Di-vine nature? Some suppose
that these names were suppressed, so to speak, to prevent the Jews,
who were an external people and prone to idolatry, from falling into
polytheism. Certainly many things were but obscurely revealed to
them, which are made more clearly known in the gospel ; and Christians
perceive in the Old Testament various truths which were wisely hid
from the children of Israel. But is it not more reasonable to believe
that Father and Son, as divine names, never occur in the Old Testa
ment, because the relationship which these names express did not then
actually exist ? God existed in his triune nature ; for this is necessary,
and therefore eternal ; but the actual distinction of Father and Son had
no existence tiU the Incarnation, when the divine and human natures
stood in that relationship to each other. When that relationship came
actually to exist, it was entirely consistent to extend the idea and the
names to the corresponding distinction in the divine nature, even as it
was before the Incarnation. The Word, when made flesh, became the
Son, being one with the divinely begotten humanity, in which it dwelt,
as the soul of man dwells in his body ; and God, or the eternal Love,
became the Father, since it was by the power of the Highest that the

'Chap. I.] ST. JOHN. 21
humanity was begotten. Indeed, that divine act is ascribed to the
Spirit of God as well as to God himself, which makes it evident that
the Spirit is not a person distinct from the leather, but is the Divine
energy, or Proceeding, by which the Divine Love became active and
operative. And here we may remark, that while there is no indication
in the Old Testament of the existence of a Divine Father and a Divine
Son, there is frequent mention of a Divine Spirit ; because, as we may
consistently conclude, the Spirit of God then actuaUy existed, and the Son
of God did not. He who became the Son existed as the Word, or the
divine Wisdom in the bosom of the divine Love, and revealed or
brought the Divine Love forth to -view in becoming flesh, or the Word
in ultimates. The divine love is incomprehensible except as revealed
and manifested by the divine wisdom. No one hath seen God, no one
hath heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen his shape ; the
only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, hath made him
manifest. 19-22. The power and influence of John's baptism had now excitetl
so much interest and fear among the leaders of the church, that the
Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Wlio art thou ?
The Jewish church, sunk as it was in darkness and corruption, was yet
desirous to know the pretensions ' of this new teacher and baptizer of
men, whom its leaders regarded with no favourable eye. The men of
the church are caUed Jews, as descendants of Judah, when the will
principle of the church is spoken of, and Jerusalem signifies the church
as to its iuteUectual principle, or in regard to its doctrines. The Jews
sending from Jerusalem signifies the will sending out from the under
standing ; and what the mind thus sends out, or what issues from it,
are its affections and thoughts, which are either good aud true or evU
and false, and these are meant by priests and Levites. The evangelist
introduces this account of the Jews sending messengers by saying " this
is the record of John," his witness respecting himseU and his mission,
and also respecting the Lord. The priests and Levites demand of him,
Who art thou ? a most important question respecting the character of
the revealed Word, when thus demanded of the revealed Word itself,
which John represented, and one which the Word itself must answer,
for no lower testimony wUl avaU. What, then, is the record of John?
He confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. He
confessed he was not the Messiah, of whom aU men were in expecta-
tarion. Christ is the Divine Truth itself, the Word incarnate. John
was not that Word, nor did he, strictly speaking, represent it. Ho
confessed, and denied not, but confessed, he acknowledged both affir-

22 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
mafively and negatively, that he was not the, Christ.' And they asked
Mm, What then ? AH thou Elias ? and he saith, I am not. It had
been predicted that Elijah was to oome before the Lord ; and when John
confessed that he -\vas not the I\l essiah, the Jews inquired if he was the
promised Elijah. In the spirit of the prophecy he was Elijah, in the
letter he was not. To the Jews, who believed that Elijah was to rise
from the dead, John was not that prophet. And by those who remain
in the letter John cannot be seen or received in this character, for he
cannot be seen or received by them in his own true character, therefore not
in Elijah's, since both John and Elijah represented the written Word.
The priests and Levites asked John, Art thou that prophet 1 and he
answered. No. This is understood to refer to the prophet promised iu
Deut. x-viii. 15 ; " The Lord wUl raise up a prophet hke unto me; unto
him ye shall hearken." That prophet was not the forerunner of the
Lord, but the Lord himself ; not the written but the incarnate Word.
John therefore was not that prophet, nor his representative. But
even if "we understand it to refer to an ordinary prophet, John was
not one, for, as the Lord declared, he was more than a prophet. A
prophet represented the Lord as the Prophet. A prophet also repre
sented doctrine derived from the Word ; but John was more than a
prophet, for he represented the Word itself The priests and scribes
then said unto him, Who art thou, that loe may give an answer to
them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself 2 Their questions
hitherto had admitted only of negative answers ; now they request him
to make some positive declaration respecting himself. The mind can
not be satisfied with pure negatives. If it is in a negative state,
the mind wants something positive to object to ; if in an affirmative
state, it wants something positive to rest upon. But the Lord does not
desire to give positive truth to those who only wish to know it that
they may deny or profane it ; therefore John first answered the Jews
negatively. It was for this reason that the Lord himself did not
always answer those who questioned him in a positive or open man
ner, and at his trial did not answer the high priest at all, tiU he ail-
jured him by the living God whether he were the Christ or no.
For the same reason, when he was falsely accused he answered his
accusers never a word. We are now to hear what Jolm says of him
self 23, 24. He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
Make straight the loay ofthe Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. John
representing the written Word, his coming to prepare the way of Jesus,
besides his own work of preparing for the reception and acknowledge

Chap. I.] .ST. JOHN. 23
ment of the Messiah, was for the sake of representing that the prepara
tion of the human mind to receive the Lord is by the teaching of the
Word. It is true that the Lord was in the world before John pro
claimed his approach. HistoricaUy, John proclaimed his coming before
the world as the great Teacher ; but before Jesus commenced his public
labours he had lived in private and unknown, among men. This has
its sphitual reaUzation in those who are regenerate. The Lord is pre
sent in the interiors of the mind performing a secret work before he
descends into the lower re.gion of the mind to become an object of
natural apprehension ; and before he can do this the teaching of his
written Word must prepare the way for his coming. John was sent
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the
children to their fathers, lest the Lord should come and smite the earth
-with a curse. EspeciaUy was this preparation effected by repentance
and baptism ; and these are stUl the means by which preparation is
made for the acknowledgment of the Lord. Repentance and spiritual
purification by divine truth remove evUa from the natural mind and
outward hfe, and make them atlmissive of spiritual love and truth.
The Lord, as the. eternal Word, works from -^vithin, while his revealed
Word, works from without. This Word is the voice crying in the
-wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. The church was then in
a desert state. Individually, every mind is a desert, when the voice of
heavenly truth first caUs man to repentance, and exhorts him to prepare
for the Lord's coming. Repentance makes the way of the Lord straight ;
for to make the crooked straight is to turn the evil of ignorance into
the good, of truth.
The evangehst here remarks that they which were sent were of the
Pharisees. In the historical sense this explains the reason of the
question which they put to John about his baptizing. But the Phari
sees represented those who cleanse the outside, but allow the inside to
remain full of corruption, and whose character comes out in the ques
tion which these messengers ask.
25. Why baptized thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias,
neither that prophet ? Washings formed a part of the religious cere
monial service of Israel, although baptism in the Christian sense, that
of an introductory rite, is unknown to the Mosaic law. It is con
sidered that they had a traditional faith among them that Elias and
¦ the Messiah were to come baptizing. The Pharisees, therefore, demand
of John why he baptized, when, according to his own confession, he
was neither the Christ nor Elias ? The Jews baptized GentUes when
converted to Judaism ; John baptized both Jewn and GentUes when

24 ST. JOHN. [Chap. I.
converted to Christianity — so far as then made known. The Pharisees
might, therefore, question John about his right to baptize, he being,
according to his own confession, neither the Messiah or Christ, nor
Elias, nor a prophet. But the Pharisees are here mentioned to show
the repugnance which the natural man has to the purifying process
represented by baptism.
26. John answered them, saying, I baptize with water ; but there
standeth one among you, whom ye know noi. In Matthew, John's
words are : " / indeed baptize -vvith water," to distinguish his baptism
from that of Jesus, which was with the Holy Ghost. The distinction
is no doubt to be understood here, though not expressed. John meant
to tell the Pharisees that his baptism was but preparatory to the
coming of one greater than himself; that in the midst of them, and yet
unknown to them, was the Christ of whom they had inquired. When
John said, " I baptize with water," he meant to say that his baptism
was only external, representing the purification of the external man.
If the Pharisees objected to John's baptism, what would they say of
Jesus, of whose work this water-baptism was but the outward sign ?
Spiritually, it speaks to us all in corresponding terms. John's baptism
with water is the purification effected by the letter of the Word. The
water of John's baptism signified the truths of the literal sense, baptism
being the purification effected by their application to life. But whUe this
outward baptism is being effected, there standeth one in the midst whom
we know not. This unknown one is present in the iumost of every
mind. But the purification of the natural man makes him manifest.
Jesus can come forth to public view when John has prepared his -way.
He then comes forth from the inner into the outer mind, and so
makes himself manifest to us as the object of our conscious faith and
love. 27. Of Jesus the Baptist testifies : He it is who coming after me is
preferred before me, lohose shoe's latcliet I am not worthy to unloose.
How profound and beautiful is John's humility in thus testifying to the
Lord's greatness and to his own comparative insignificance ! Of the
personal priority and greatness of Jesus, we need not further speak,
having already (•('. 15) considered a similar declaration. His present
mode of iUustrating this statement is that which invites our attention.
His shoe latchet he was not worthy to unloose. In those times the
sandal was removed from the foot of the pilgrim when he souo-ht repose
after the fatigue of his journey, a service performed by the very
lo-west domestics. In declaring himself unworthy to perform this
humblest service for the Son of man, he acknowledged himself to be

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 25
immeasurably inferior to his Lord as to rank and perfection. But the
words of the Baptist teach more than a general lesson of humility,
which we learn from their spiritual meaning. The foot, especially the
sole of the foot, as the lowest part of the body, answers by analogy to
the natural principle as the lowest degree of the mind; and the sandal
which clothes and protects it answers to the corporeal principle, which
consists of material ideas belonging rather to the body than the mind,
but serving to cover and protect those which are immaterial and
truly spiritual. As the shoe or sandal is symbolical of that which k
lowest, the shoe latchet is a symbol of that which is least. " I will
not," said Abram to the king of Sodom, " take from a thread even to a
shoe latchet." The unloosing of the latchet and the removing of
the Lord's sandal point to the completion of his works of redemption
and salvation, when he had seen the travail of his soul and was satisfied,
and when he put off all the corporeal principle which he inherited from
his human parent, or rather those external things which, like the dust
of the earth, itself similar in meaning to the sandal, clave to his
maternal humanity during his pUgrimage on earth. In this work of
removing from his humanity all that was corporeal and earthly he had
no human or angelic assistance ; even John, who was more than a
prophet and the greatest among those who were born of women, could
have no share. As the Lord trod fhe winepress alone, and of the
people there was none with him, so he alone effected the glorification
of his humanity, even to the removal of the last remnant of mortality.
28. The things which the evangelist has just recorded were done in
Bethahara beyond Jord.an, toliere John was baptizing. On the best
authorities the name of this place should be Bethany. It was on the
east side of the Jordan, as the town of Martha and Mary was on the
west ; but although one was in, and the other was out of, the land of
Canaan, the Bethany beyond the Jordan was not strictly speaking out
of the region which represented the Church. When the Israelites
took possession of the promised land, two tribes and a half chose their
inheritance on the other side Jordan. Those on the east of the river
represented the external church and the external man, and those in
Canaan itself represented the internal church and the internal man ;
the tribe of Manasseh, half of which was on one side of the Jordan
and half on the other, representing the principle of mutual love that
forms the conjoining medium between them. Bethany was in the
tribe of Reuben, who, among the twelve patriarchs, has the same
signification that Peter has among the twelve apostles. It was here,
where John was baptizing, that these things took place. As Reuben,

' 26 ST. JOHN. ; [Chap. I.
like Peter, represented the grace of faith, and Bethany (the place of
date trees) represented a state of the perception of the truths of faith,
John there proclaimed aud pointed out Jesus as the incarnate Word to
• the Jews and his (hsciples ; and there he taught the relation which
he, as the representative of the written Word, bore to the eternal
Word himself, who had come. into the world to redeem mankind. As
this Bethany was beyond Jordan, these things being done there,
teaches us, not only that the truths of faith are implanted in the outer
. man, and form the external church, but that faith itself has its dweU-
ing-place there, as Reuben had his lot beyond Jordan ; love to the
Lord being the principle of the internal church and of the inner man,
as Judah, its type, had his inheritance in, and indeed in the centre of,
the land of Canaan. Where these things took place, John was also
baptizing. As John's baptism represented introduction into the church
and the purification of the outer man, it was performed on that side of
Jordan from which the children of Israel entered, through that river,
into the place of their rest ; Jordan signifying the truth which instructs
and purifies the mind, which baptizes it unto repentance and its
works, through which lies the Christian's passage into the church
below, as his home on earth, and into the church above, as his home
in heaven.
29. The next day John seeth Jesus com.ing unto him, and saith,
Behold the Lamb nf God lohich taketJi away the sin of the world.
How noble a testimony to Je.sus as the S.aviour of men ! Thirty years
had passed since the angel had announced to the shepherds at Beth
lehem the birth of a Saviour which was Christ the Loril ; and now,
when Jesus was about to show himself unto the worid, John proclaims
him to be the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
Both the angel and the Baptist were messengers of the Lord; the
heavenly messenger preparing the way for the Lord's advent into the
heaven of the inner man, and the earthly messenger preparing the way
for his descent into the world of the outer man. The Lord had hitherto
been engaged in a great work, but it was inward and hidden ; more in
the inner depths of his human consciousness than in the outward acts
of his human life, for the Lord glorified himself, as he regenerates
man, first internally, next externally ; and more in heaven among the
angels than among men on cirth, for the Lord redeemed angels as weU
as men. The stages of the Lord's glorification were coincident with
corresponding periods of his life.
The Lord, as to his humanity, is the Lamb of God. Tliis is a name
given to hun. as the great antitype of the Jewish sacrifices, especiaUy

Chap. L] ST. JCH^N. 27
of the lamb of the daily sacrifice, and of the paschal lamb, which were
types of Jesus, who offered himseK as a sacrifice for the sins of the
world. But it is of the first importance to know what is the true
meaning of sacrifice. A sacrifice is that which is devoted to the Lonl,
or consecrated to his ser-vice. Christians have come to think of the
Lord's sacrifice as consisting in his death, as a penal infliction. This
-view rests mainly on the mistaken notion that the death of the animal
offered on the altar of the Jewish church constituted its sacrifice ; and,
looking from the type to the antitype, in confounding the Lord's sacri
fice with his crucifixion. The death of the animal may indeed be con
sidered analogous to the Lord's death ; but neither the death of the
type nor of the antitype constituted their sacrifice. The sacrifice con
sisted in the offering of the animal upon the altar ; and the analogy to
this, iu our Lord's case, was not his death, but his resurrection and
ascension ; for it was his resurrection body that he presented as a
hving sacrifice to God, and which became for ever consecrated to the
service of his indwelling divinity. The crucifixion and sacrifice of the
Lord, so far from being identical, are, in their character, the opposites
of each other. Crucifixion is the death of what is old ; sacrifice is the
consecration of what is new. This distinction is plainly made hi the
Scriptures. " For if we have been planted together in the likeness of
his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection : knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom. vi. 5).
So in Galatians : " And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh
with the affections and lusts" (v. 24). And in the same epistle : " God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (vi. 14).
Thus the old man, the body of sin, tbe flesh with its affections and
lusts, the world, are the things we are required to crucify. But never
does the apostle speak of sacrificing any of these, and for the simple
reason that such sacrifices would be abomination unto the Lord. The
sacrifices which alone are acceptable to him are not things dead and
unclean, but things pure and living ; not the old man with his carnal
lusts, but the new man with his heavenly affections. So Paul says,
" I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present ynur bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this w^orld :
but be ye ti'.ansformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. xu. 1, 2).
In Hebrews we read, " By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks

28 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with
such sacrifices God is well pleased" (xiii. 15). In the Old Testament
examples of this kind are numerous. The worshipper is exhorted
to offer sacrifices of righteousness, of joj', of thanksgiving ; all being
comprehended in offering the sacrifice of a broken and a contrite
Heart. The same law, which is applicable to all the sacrifices offered by men,
was fulfiUed in the one great sacrifice, which was offered by the Lord,
the sacrifice of himself. It was his old man, his frail humanity, that
was crucified ; it was his new man, his glorified and risen humanity,
that was sacrificed (Heb. x. 10). It was in his glorious body that
" Christ gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
SAveet-smelling savour (Eph. v. 2); for Jesus "offered himself without
spot to God" (Heb. ix. 14). The Lord's sacrifice was the great anti
type of all the sacrifices that burned for ages on the altar of the Jewish
church. Sweet to Jehovah was the savour of that offering ; for that
which was offered was no less than a sanctified, perfected, glorified
Humanity. That was the offering of all offerings : " For by one
offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Heb.
X. 10-14).
In what way does the Lord's sacrifice take away the sin of the world?
Among heathen nations, sacrifices were offered to propitiate the deity.
It is natural for men to suppose that God shoiUd be offended with
them when they sin, and that they should seek to obtain his forgive
ness by some acceptable offering as a sign of their penitence. Revela
tion gives us the true view of this great matter. God is love, and
deshes the happiness of all his creatures, the only obstacle to which
exists ill themselves. Man has become God's enemy, but God has
never ceased to be man's friend. Man needs therefore to be reconciled
to God ; God needs not to be reconcUed to man. There is indeed an
opinion, that while God's love desires the salvation of aU, his justice
demanded satisfaction for sin ; anil redemption is considered to include
a scheme by which God's justice is reconciled to his mercy. Jesus is
believed to have come into the world to live the life of the righteous
and die the death of the guilty, to satisfy the demands of the divine
law ; and having done this, sinners may now be saved, not for any
thing they can do, but for what Christ has done. So deeply does the
idea of substitution enter into the plan of redemption, that many, un
able to see any other use in the Lord's Incarnation, will be ready to
ask. If Christ did not come into the world to live and die in the room
and stead of sinners, what did he come to do ? We have only to look

Chap. I.] ST. JOHN. 29
at the real state of the case, as it was and is between God and man, to
obtain a satisfactory answer. ]\lan had forsaken God, and needed to
be brought back to God again. "Your iniquities have separated be
tween you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you"
(Isa. lix. 2). This was man's state and condition. Alienated from
God, he needed to be restored ; at enmity with God, he needed to be
reconciled. So say the Scriptures. " If when we were enemies we
were reconcUed to God by the death of his Son, much more bein<f
reconcUed we shaU be saved by his life" (Rom. v. 10). But how was
this reconcUiation effected ? God assumed man's alienated and rebeUitms
nature, and in his o-wn person reconciled that nature to himself But
how does this reconciliation of man to God, of the human to the
Di-vine, effect the reconciliation of men to God? No truth is more
evident than this, that men are saved by being conformed to the
image of the Saviour ; and equaUy evident is it that to be conformed
to his image, men must live as the Lord lived, suffer as he suffered,
die as he died, rise as he rose. Our work is an image of his work,
and our glory is an image of his glory ; in one word, our regeneration
is an image of his glorification. Thus the Lord's work is the cause and
pattern of that work which must be wrought in us, if we are to be
saved. But how does glorification in the Lord work out regeneration
in us ? In his perfected humanity the Lord is present with his saving
power and efflcacy with aU men ; so that he can perform in every human
being the same work, in a finite measure and degree, which he once for
all effected in himself The work which the Lord effected in himself
was that very work which was required to be accomplished in man, to
fit him for heaven.
We may now look at the words of John in their spiritual meaning.
In the spiritual sense the Lord is called the Lamb of God, as being
Innocence itself, and the author of innocence to his people. By inno
cence we do not mean mere blamelessness, but the very perfection of
holiness. Therefore the Lord is represented (Rev. v. 6) as the Lamb
iu the midst of the throne, to teach us that the Lord's humanity is
innocence, and that this is the inmost of heaven, which is God's
throne. The Lord, as the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the
world, by making the world free from sin, and restoring it to something
of the innocence from which it has departed. There is no other way
of salvation for the world but this. We cannot be saved by simply
believmg what Jesus did for us, but by doing as he did, and by being
as he is, having the same mind in us which was also in him. We do
not, of course, mean that we can ever, even to eternity, arrive at his

30 ST. JOHN. [Chap. 1.
measure of perfection. Our perfection must be like tis in foim, but
can never be like it in degree ; it is no more than its image. As man
was created into the image of his Creator, so is he regenerated into the
image of his Saviour.
30. John proceeds to say of Jesus, Tliis is he of tehcm 1 said, Af'er'
me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for Ke was before me.
This declaration, now repeated for the third time, differs from the
others in one particular. Jesus is here caUei a man. It does not of
course follow that Jesus was a mere man. He was truly mau, as well
as truly God. But the Lord was man, not only as the son of IMary,
but also as the Son of God ; and he is more truly a man since, than he
was before, he put oft' all that he inherited from his human mother.
Paul so speaks of him as he now is. "There is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus'' (1 Tim. ii. 5).
The Lord is perfect man, because he is a di-vine man, and therefore a
perfect mediator between God and man. We are so much accustomed
to think of the human as contrasted with the Divine, that we are apt to
forget that the human derives its distinguishing character, not from its
unlikeness, but from its likeness, to the Divine. In a high antl holy
sense God is infinite Man, considered as the prototype of finite man i
He is a divine person, not an infinitely extended aud formless essence.
As such he is the divine, tmd indeed the only Man ; we, as men, being ¦
but the faint, because the finite, images of him, as the infinitely per
fect. And we become more truly men as we acquire more and more of
his image and likent3ss. Although it is not necessary to suppose that
finite man is in aU respects the exact copy of the Infinite, yet there
can be no reasonable doubt that the divine image extends to man's
form as well as to his nature. The human form is not an arbitrai-y
one. It is not constructed but created. It is not built up mechanically ,
as a habitation for the soul, but put forth creatively through the soul
as a habitation for itself It is the human essence concreted into the
human shape. No creature can exist in any form but that which is
suitable to its nature ; that is to say, in its own form ; man's form is
the form 'of his nature. God could not have taken man's nature upon
him, if that nature had not been homogeneous with his own ; he could
not have appeared in the human form, if that form had not been the
image of his own; the Lord therefore was man before he assumed
man's nature. By incarnation he became man in ultimates, havino-
existed from eternity as man in first principles ; and the "lorified
humanity is man in the perfection of the human form, because it is
lijve and wisdom in their oWn form.

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 31
31. And I knew him not: hut that he slwnhl be made manifest to
Israel. How was it that the Messiah should have been unknown to him
who had been raised up for the purpose of preparing his way ? Was
it that there might be uo appearance of coUusion ? There must be a
liigher reason than this. John knew that the Messiah was come ; but he
was kept in ignorance of Jesus as the Chiist, that he might know him ,
through the sign which was to be vouchsafed to him from heaven.
John had been, so to speak, working his way up to the Messiah, whUe
preparing his way by preaching and baptizing. He knew what he was
workhig and labouring for, but he knew not him in whose cause and for
whose coming he laboured. The object of his mission was, that the
Messiah might be made manifest to Israel, and to the church so far
as it was animated by the love of truth, which is the spiritual principle
that Israel represented; and to the human mind, in which affection for
truth exists ; for to none but those who are iu the love of truth for its
own sake can the Lord be savingly manifested or revealed as Christ,
the Sa-vioui of the world. Every one in John's condition has John's ,
experience. WhUe we are acquiring a knowledge of the truth and
stri-ving to obey it, we are preparing the -way of the Lord. We know
him, and yet we kno-w him not. We know him theoretically but not
practicaUy, potentially but not actually. Only by the heavenly ,
sign, the spirit descending from on high and alighting and abiding on
the truth, do we know it as the truth, in and by which the Lord brings
Balvation to us.
32, 33. The sign by which John was to know Jesus as the Chiist
was that which took place at his baptism. / saw the spirit descending
from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Mm. If we look at this
divuie event only from the sensuous side, according to which the literal
narrative is -written, we shall regard it as teaching not only the distinct
but the separate personahty of Father, Son, and Spirit. Reason may,
convince us that .the reality is different from the appearance. No
reasonable person can suppose that an omnipresent Being can be
thus divided and separated, one person m heaven, another on earth,
and a third the messenger between them. The appearances spoken of
are but the outward visible signs of an inward divine operation, an
operation of the Lord's divhiity ui his hiuuanity. The dove was not
the Spirit itself, but a representative appearance of its nature, as the
Spirit of infinite love and wisdom, the motion of the dove represeut-
mg the descent of the Spirit from the Lord's divine into his human
nature. In the Lord the descent and operation of the Sphit was con
stant; but as his .glorifi.cation advanced , not only by toiitinuous but by

32 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
discrete degrees, there were marked stages wliere one discrete degree
ended txnd another began. At one of these stages, marking an- epoch
in his human life and experience, the Lord's glorification had now
arrived; the baptism of John representing the purification and con
secration of the external man, followed by the descent into it of the
Spirit of love and wisdom of the inner man. This was the stage of
the new life to which the Lord had now advanced. The descent of the
Spirit into the more ultimate sphere of the Lord's human nature
was that which prepared him for entering on his public ministry, in
wdiich the indwelling Sphit of his love aud wisdom was to be brought
out in those wonderful words and works designed to enlighten and
bless mankind.
This was the promised sign by which Jesus was made known to John.
I knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said
uuto me. Upon loliom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining
on him, the same ii he that hap)tizetli with the Holy Ghost. To look
at this subject spiritually in relation to ourselves, the same evidence is
given to us that was given to Jolm, by which we know Jesus as our
Saviour. As regeneration is in effect an image of the Lord's glorifica
tion, aud is that by which the Lord is glorified in us, this is given us
as a sign by which we come to know the Lord. The descent of the
Holy Spirit from the Lord through the will and understanding of the
internal man into the baptized and purified life and conversation of
the external man is that by which the Lord becomes sensibly known
to us ; and by which he works out the complete regeneration of the
willing and obedient, as he effected the complete glorification of his
own humanity. The dove was not only to descend but to remain
upon Jesus ; so that not a transitory visit but a continued abiding of
the spirit was to be the sign. But these words express something
more than this. All motion, especially that of birds, is expressive of
the activity of thought, and remaining is expressive of a permanent
state in regard to the will. The descending of the dove was there
fore symbolical of the operation of the divine wisdom in the Lord's
human understanding, and the remaining upon him of the dove was
symbolical of the confirmation of divine love as a principle of his
human wUl. These were to be a sign that Jesus was he who was to
baptize with the Holy Spirit. This baptism forms a most important
contrast to that of John. John's baptism was representative, the Lord's
was actual. The difference between them is as the difference between
what is dead and what is living. All outward rites and all human
agencies are but the forms into which life Hows. The baptizing and

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 33
preaching of men are most useful operations, but they have nothing of
vitality in them. They are like the labours of the husbandman, in
cultivating and manuring the soil and in sowing and watering the
seed ; but aU life and growth and fruitfuluess are from God alone ;
even the powers of nature do nothing more than dispose the external
of the seed for yielding to the operation of the living force, which
comes from the Lord through the sun of heaven. The same may be
said of the written Word which John represented. Its truths are the
seed of the kingdom ; and aU that human teachers can do is to sow
them in the minds of others and of themselves. All the vitality
which they possess is from the presence in them of the divine life ;
and all that man can do, and all that he is required to do, is to fulfil
the outward conthtions analogous to those of the husbandman, that
these seeds of eternal truth may take root do-wnwards and bear fruit
upwards. If men faithfully baptize with water, the Lord wUl not faU
to baptize with the Holy Spirit.
34. John sate, and bare record that this is the Son of God. The
Lord, we have seen, was now the Son of God actuaUy, as, before
the mcarnation, he was potentiaUy. We have also seen that Jesus was
more fuUy the Son of God at his resurrection than at his birth. By
birth, he was the Son of Mary as weU as the Son of God ; by glorification,
he became the Son of God only, having put off aU the frail humanity he
derived from his human mother, and put on a perfect humanity from his
divine Father. Although at his birth he was justly entitled to
be caUed the Son of God, yet, strictly speaking, this title was
only applicable to that principle of his humanity which he derived
frora the Father ; and as the humanity in which he rose from the dead
was wholly di-vine, this was truly and exclusively the Son of God, he
having been "declared to be the Son of God with power bythe resurrection
from the dead." The record of Jesus as the Son of God, is the know
ledge and acknowledgment, not simply of the Lord's divinity, but of
the divinity of his humanity. Those who regard Jesus as the eternal
Son of God, and yet deny the divinity of his humanity, do not reaUy
acknowledge him to be the Son of God. There was no eternal Son of
God. There was a Son born in time and glorified ; and this is in very
truth the only begotten Son of God. John's testunony reispecting
Jesus, as being the Son of God, is of great practical as well as doctrinal
importance ; for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as God manifest in the
flesh, as that One in whom God is Man and Man is God, is the faith
which brings salvation, because it brings the soul into connection with
him who has the power to save. C

34 ST. JOHN. [Chap.'L
35, 36. Ag-ain, the next day after, John stood, and tno of his d'.is-
ciples : and looking on Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb
of God. John had already borne testimony to Jesus as the Word
made flesh, as the fulness of grace and truth, as Jehovah whose coming
was predicted by Isaiah, as the Lamb of God that taketh away the
sin of uhe world, as the Son of God. He had testified this to the
multitude who came to Ms baptism, and to the priests and Levites
sent to ask Mm Who he was, and whether he was the Messiah.
Lie now gives the same testimony before his own disciples. The
first disciples of Jesus were, it would appear, disciples cf John.
So far John had prepared the way of the Lord, not only
to the Jews generaUy, but to Ms own disciples in particular. And
these disciples of John became disciples of Jesus, and one of
them became the first of the Lord's apostles. The two disciples
to ->,vhoui John pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God, and who
foUowed the Lord and became Ms disciples, represent the two general
classes of converts who follow the Lord, those who are in charity and
those who are in faith, and abstractly the graces of charity and faith
themselves ; their leaving John and foUowing Jesus representing the
elevation of those principles out of the natural mto the spiritual de
gree of the mind. John and his disciples stood whUe Jesus waUced,
a symbol of the completed mission of the one and the commencing
mission of the other. John's work may be said to have ended where
the Lord's work began. The baptism of Jesus was the crowning act
of John's mission. A connection between heaven and earth had been
effected by the baptism of men, but heaven itself was opened by the
baptism of the Lord. Henceforth the humanity of Jesus became the
liirect medium of communication between heaven and the church, and
between God and man, and the spiritual baptism of regeneration was
about to succeed the ceremonial baptism of repentance. The sun having
risen in Ms strength, the star which heralded his approach became hidden
in Ms beams. So John testified of Jesus and of himself : He must
increase, but I must decrease. And thus is it -with those who pass suc-
cessfuUy through the regenerate life. Charity and faith are first the
disciples of John. They are received from the -written Word as
principles of doctrine, and if they are faithfuUy acted upon as such,
they become eventually principles of life ; introduced into the mind by
the baptism of water, they become quickened by the baptism of the
Holy Sphit, and being animated with spiritual and heavenly life are
raised from the natural into the spiritual mind.
37. The effect of this exclamation was, that the two disciples who

Chap. I.] ST. JOHN. 35
heard him speak folloiued Jesus. "Following Jesus, or following the
Lord, is frequently mentioned in the New Testament, which histori-
caUy means becoming his disciples. But foUowing Jesus spirituaUy
and practically is to foUow his teaching and example ; to foUow hun
as the Truth, aud to foUow wherever the truth leads. Such oMy as
do tMs are true followers of the Lord. This the two disciples of
John did; and this all true disciples of the letter do, for these not
oMy learn the principles of goodness and truth from the Word, but
strive to hve according to them ; and the life of truth brings them to
Jesus as the Spirit of truth, and leads them to follow its higher
dictates. 38. Then Jesus turned and saw. them following. The Lord turns
Mmself to us when we turn ourselves to him. " Turn ye uuto me and
I wUl _turn unto you, saith the Lord." But the real truth is, the Lord
turns us to himself; he draws us, we suff'er ourselves to be drawn ; he
leads us, we sufl'er ourselves to be led. The Lord's turning himseU
away from us is an appearance ; aud it is oMy when he turns us to
himself that it seems as if he turned himself to us. We must
beware, however, of faUing into error, by supposing that we are mere
passive objects whom the Lord turns at his pleasure. It is always his
pleasure to turn his creatures to himself, and he turns aU who of their
free will yield to the perpetually operating influences of his Sphit.
TMs turning of the Lord has a spiritual significance. Turning the .
face to any one means to open the mind inwardly to Mm ; and when
the Lord is spoken of as turning to any one, it indicates that he who
previously saw the Lord exteriiaUy and obscurely now sees him in
wardly and clearly. And so when it is said that the Lord sees auy
one, as it is here said that, being turned, he saw the two disciples of
John following, we are not to understand any new sight on. the Lord's,
part but on man's. The Lord always sees us, but we do not always .
see him ; and he sees us in the true sense when he enables us to see
ourselves. There are two difi'erent aspects which the Lord has to men ;
they see him on the back and they see him on the face. The first is ex
ternal sight, the second is internal. When the Lord was turned, he asked
the two who foUowed Mm , What seek ye ? -4.n important and searching •
question this. When we follow the Lord, we should endeavour to know,
not only the Lord whom we foUow, but what our object is in folio-wing-
M-m. The two answered this question by asking him another. Ad
dressing Jesus as Master, a title to wMch no one is spiritually entitled .
bat Mmse-lf, he alone ha-ving authority in matters qf faith and practice,,
the disciples say unto him, 'Where dwellest thou ? ¦ As dweUing h^*

36 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
relation to a state of goodness in the wiU, where goodness or love
has its dwelling-place and its home, this inquiry indicates a desire
of the mind to know the nature of the good to which truth leads, the
end to which it is a means. The Lord might have answered, " I
dwell in the high and holy place ; -with him also that is of a contrite
and humble spirit." But the Lord spake according to outward exist
ing states, yet in the language of correspondence. Place signifies state.
The question. Where dwellest thou? asked with a desire to foUow
him to the place of his abode, is expressive of a spiritual deshe to
attain the state which is the Lord's state, to participate in Ms good
ness, wisdom, and blessedness.
39. To their question the Lord answered. Come and see. To come
is an act of the wiU, to see is an act of the understanding. TMs,
therefore, is an exhortation to them to come to that state themselves, as
the best and indeed the only practical way of knowing it. As if the
Lord had said, and as he now says to those who occupy the place
and have the desire of these disciples. Learn from experience. EoUow
me to the place of my abode and see for yourselves ; it is a state and
place I have prepared for you, that where I am ye may be also.
My humble dweUing upon earth is the consecrated symbol of my
church on earth and of my kingdom in heaven, of my Father's house
in which are many mansions, the dweUing-place of my love and the
home of the loving. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode
with him that day. Time, hke place, signifies state ; but place is state
in relation to good, and time is state in relation to truth. Place and
time thus signify both. Their abiding with Jesus that day signifies
a state of good and truth united The quahty of the state on wMch
they had thus entered is expressed by the hour of the day : it was
about the tenth hour. Ten is a number which signifies remams, wMch
are the germs or rudiments of states formed in the mind by the Lord,
through the insemination of the truths and goods of his Word. Others
may be instnimental in communicating the knowledge of these prin
ciples, but the Lord alone can cause them to take root. The implanta
tion of remains is the beginning of the regenerate life. Their impar-
tation is confined to no period, but their implantation is the first day,
and is memorable as the day of our being with Jesus in the place of
his abode. The states formed under the teaching of John are the be
ginnings of those perfected under the teaching of Jesus. Reformation
is preparatory to regeneration.
40. One of the two which heard John speak and folloioed him, was
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. We are not told who the other dis-

Chap. L] ST. JOHN. 37
ciple was ; some suppose it was John himself Andrew was the first
of the Lord's disciples, and Peter was the first of his apostles. It is a
matter of great interest and importance to know the representative char
acter of that disciple, for as the disciples represented all the graces and
virtues of religion, he who was first chosen represents that grace which
first exists in the mind and is the beginning of aU others. Andrew repre
sented the obedience of faith. But the faith, the obedience of which
he represents, is what may be called natural faith, the acknowledgment of
the leading truths of the gospel, or their admission into the understanding
as doctrines. This may be called faith in the understanding, and obedi
ence to this faith consists in shunning the evil and doing the good wMch
it teaches, from a sense of duty rather than from affection. This obedi
ence is indeed of the wUl, but it is of the wUI acthig from the law as a
rule, but not as a principle. There are two kinds of obedience, which
belong to two different stages of the regenerate life. There is obedi
ence to the dictates of truth and obedience to the promptings of love.
Obedience is the first, and it is also the last, perfection of the regenerate.
We begin with obedience and end with obedience. By obedience we
enter on and pursue the upward path untU we have arrived at a state of
love, and when we have attained to a state of love we descend by obedi- -
ence into the performance of uses. The first obedience is a labour of
duty, the second is a labour of love. Andrew represents the first, and
John represents the second. And that obedience is the first element of
real religion, for iuteUectual faith has no actual and permanent exist
ence tUl it is manifested in obedience, for obedience is that which
tiirns truth into good, and brings the will into conformity and con
junction with the understanding.
41. It is said of Andrew that he first findeth his own brother
Simon. Simon Peter is eminently the representation of the Christian
grace of faith. When he is called Simon he represents faith in the
wiU, or that faith which exists in the mind as a general principle ;
Peter represents the same faith when it exists in the understand
ing ; while Simon Peter is expressive of that faith which is both
in the will and in the understanding. The faith represented by
Andrew is that which leads to the faith represented by Peter, in
other words natural faith leads to spiritual faith, or we should rather
say the obedience of natural faith leads to spiritual faith. So it is
said of Andrew that he first findeth his own brother Simon, for
natural faith is the brother of spiritual faith, and obedience is that
which forms the link of connection between them. Andrew saith
to him, we have found the Metsias, which is, being interpreted, the

38 ST. JOHN. [Chap. 1.
Chri'sti ¦ No -doubt to ' sintiere and- earnest -Israelites this was a great
discovery, aUd happy must the one have been, to announce, and the
other to hear, the glad tidings. Spiritually, we find the Messiah,
when we receive the Lord as the Word made fiesh, as the .Truth
itself by whom we have redemption. Andrew does not say " we have
heard of him," but "we have found him," and in their finding him was
implied and comprehended the finding of the Saviour and of salva
tion. Messias, like Christ, means the anointed, and Jesus as the
anointed is the divine truth filled with the divine love. The holy oil
with which anointings were effected under the representative dis
pensation of the Jews, was the type or symbol of the holy oil of
di-vine love with which the Father was to anoint the Son, by wMch
the Lord's divinity was to glorify his humanity, by making it divine.
42. Ajidreio brought Simon to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him,
he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jona : thuu shalt be culled Cephas,
wliich is, by interpretation, a stone. This recognition of the new in
quirer, if not convert, is an instance of the truth of the statement, that
Jesus needed not that any should testify of man ; for if he knew what
was in man, it is not surprising that he should know snch outward cir
cumstances as these. But Jesus not only knew what Simon vids, but
he knew what he would be, and in accordance with this knowledge he
gave him at once a new name, that expressed the character whicli
this disciple was to earn for himself It is worthy of remark that
this eminent disciple is, in the brief narrative of his first connection
with Jesus, spoken of by all the names by which he is afterwards de
signated : Simon, Simon Peter, Simon son of Jona. Each has a par
ticular spiritual as weU as natural signification. Simon hterally means
hearing ; and he Avho has ears to hear the truth is one who is inclined
to hearken to its lessons of wisdom and precepts of life, and to foUow
them. Hearing is that sense which communicates more immediately
with the -wUl and ministers to the affections, these being affected with
sound and its harmony ; while sight communicates more immediately
with the understanding, and conveys to it impressions of symmetry and
beauty. When this disciple is caUed by the name of Simon, it is in
reference to the affection of truth, which disposes and opens the mind
to its reception. When he is called Peter, which has the same mean
ing as Cephas, it is in reference to his character as one whose faith is
fijied on the immovable rock of divine truth, and eminently on the Lord
as the Truth itself — the Rock of Ages ; for Peter, as one strong iu the
faith, and especiaUy as the one who made the famous confession that
Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the livhig God, is the representative

t^HAP. L]' ST. JOHN. 39
of faith, and also of the church itself, as founded upon a rock, and
tigainst which the gates of heU shaU not prevail. But the Lord here
salutes Mm as Simon, son of Jona. Jona means a dove, which, in re
ference to man, is the emblem of charity, the harmlessness or simplicity
of the dove being akin to that innocence of which the lamb is em
blematical ; and the charity and simphcity of mind which is meant
by the dove, is that singleness of heart and singleness of eye, by which
the whole body becomes fuU of light. Such is the Christian grace re
presented by Peter, as named by the Lord.
43. The day following, Jesus woidd go forth into Galilee, and findeth
Philip, and saith unto him. Follow me. This part of the narrative -wUl
be best understood by some general remarks on its connection with
what precedes and foUows. As Andrew found his brother Simon,
and brought him to Jesus, so Philip did with Nathanael. There is,
therefore, a relative connection between them. Little is recorded in
the gospels respecting these two disciples, but that little enables us to
see theh representative characters. The place where Jesus abode, to
which Andrew followed and Simon came to him, was Judea ; PhUip
and Nathanael he found in Galilee. The Lord's going forth from
¦ludea into GalUee signifies, in reference to the regenerate, his going forth
from the internal into the external man. Philip and Nathanael, there
fore, signify principles of goodness and truth, or charity and faith in
the natural mind, corresponding to principles of charity and faith in the
internal, represented by Andrew and Simon. This appears not only
from the general rule, that when two are mentioned together, one has
reference to the -will and the other to the understanding, but also from
what is further said respecting them in the present instance. The ac
count of the Lord's caUing PhUip begins with the statement that he
would go into Galilee on the day foUowing that ou which Peter was
brought to him. The following day is a state following in series that
represented by the day on which Andrew and Peter were with Jesus, a
state of the conjunction of charity and faith in the natural mind, cor
responding to a state of the conjunction of the same principles in the
spiritual mind. It is thus that regeneration proceeds, sometimes in
wards or upwards to the interior affections and thoughts of the mind,
and sometimes outwards and downwards towards the words and actions
of the life. In the Lord's journey into Galilee, which represented this
outward progression, the Lord finds PhUip, whom he commands to
foUow him.
44. What PhUip specially represented is brought out more distinctly
in the statement which the evangelist now makes, that Philip was

40 ST. JOHN. [Chap. L
of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, which indicates that the
principle he represents has a common connection or affinity with those
represented by his two fellow citizens ; and that his character, like
theirs, had reference to faith, and to their future function of gathering
the faithful into the church, is further evinced by the meaning of
Bethsaida, which is a fishing town. All that is known of PhUip from
the gospels indicates that he has relation to faith, but that the faith
which he represents is not free from obscurity and doubt, and is there
fore comparatively external or natural. A memorable instance of tMs
was his asking Jesus to show them the Father ; which drew forth from
the Lord the gentle reproof, " Have I been so long time with you, and
yet hast thou not known me, Philip?" (xiv. 9). Yet where there is
sincerity there is a true, however imperfect disciple, one who is honored
with the direct caU to follow the Lord.
45. Philip findeth Nathanael, und saith unto him, We have found
Mm of whom Moses in the laio and the prophets did write, Jesus of
Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. It is a spiritual law, wMch is a law of
life originating in him who is Life itself, that truth desires good and
good desires truth. This sphitual law lies at the foundation of our
desire that others should think and feel as we do, that there may
be unity of mind and action. This is the case, indeed, with those who
are in evil and falsity, as well as -with those who are in goodness and
truth ; and, as a consequence, men and spiiits actuated by those prin
ciples desire to make others like themselves. But abuse does not take
away use, and this use we see operating in the present case. PhUip
tells Nathanael, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the
prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. The accept
ance of Jesus as the Messiah, whose coming had been foretold by
Moses and the prophets, was in itself a great act of faith ; yet PhUip's
language respecting Jesus does not indicate a clear perception of his
character. He does not, like Andrew, speak of Jesus as the Christ,
but as the Nazarene ; nor does he, like Nathanael, speak of him as
the Son of God, but as the son of Joseph, the only instance in wMch
a disciple so calls him. Jesus as the Nazarene is the Lord as to his
natural humanity, or the divine truth accommodated to the natural
apprehension of mau. This principle of the Lord's humanity glorified,
is indeed that by which he has access to the natural minds of men, so
as to bring his love and wisdom down to their lowest state of reception,
and save men unto the uttermost ; but Philip had not yet acquired a
just apprehension of the divinity of the Lord's humanity. This is not
indeed to be wondered at in Philiri, or in any one who has but newly

Chap. I.] ST. JOHN. 41
learnt the truth of the Lord's being the Messiah ; but it expresses and
represents a condition of mind and state of inteUigence as yet far from
those which are characteristic of a spiritual disciple. The true disciple
of the Lord sees that Jesus was not merely spoken of by the law and the
prophets, bnt that he was Mmself the Law and the Prophet ; by ful-
fiUing the law and the prophets, he became the truth and the good
wMch the law and the prophets taught. In his life he experienced
and acted aU that the written Word contains, so that he is that Word
in person.
46. Nathanael but expressed the repugnance of the natural mind to
di-vine truth when he answered PhUip's announcement, that they had
found the Messiah, with the question. Can there a.ny good thing come out
of Nazareth? Goodness,- unless it comes in the form of greatness, seldom
finds a ready acceptance amongst men, who are so accustomed to judge
by appearances. The assumption of humanity bj^ Jehovah, as a re
medy for human disorder and misery, is the great stumbling-block to
the natural man, as the prophet declared it would be to both houses of
Israel. For, however much we may be sensible of that want which
can oMy be supplied by the Saviour, we are all naturally disinclined
to accept the Saviour in the lowly character in which he presented
himself to the Jewish people. Philip answered Nathanael's question,
by asking Mm to do what Jesus had requested Andrew to do. Gome
and see. As if he had said, Approach Jesus yourself, and use that
faculty which God has given you for discerning the truth, and you
will see it to your spiritual benefit and eternal salvation. Nathanael
took this wise counsel, as every one should who desires to see the truth
as it is in Jesus.
47. Nathanael's doubt was at once shaken, but not at once removed.
Jesus saio Nathanael coming to Mm, and saith of him. Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Although these words were
spoken respecting Nathanael, they were heard by him. The first
evidence of Jesus' Messiahship which this doubting and cautifius
visitor received was a revelation of his own character. It might have
been regarded as a flattering compliment, but that the person of whom
it was spoken must have heard it as a voluntary test of the speaker's
claim to being what PhUip had represented him to be. Nathanael felt
it to be an evidence of supernatural knowledge, and therefore of Jesus
as a supernatural Being. He perceived that Jesus knew him. The
description which Jesus gives of Nathanael's interior character is ex
pressive also of the character of those persons and of that Christian
grace which he represented. A true Israelite is one who is in the

42 ST. JOHN. [Chap. I
spiritual love- of truth. Of this love of truth the Lord says, that init
there is no guUe. The love of truth implies the absence of insin
cerity. Singleness of mind is one of- its essential characteristics ; and
the promise of the Lord is, If thine eye be single thy whole body
.shall be full of light. Nathanael soon experienced and declared the
truth of this promise ; and all who are single-minded wiU have the
same experience when they come to Jesus and see him for themselves.
48. Nathanael saith unto him, Wlience Jmowest thou me ? The love
of truth is ever accompanied with the fear of error ; and one of the
signs by which it is indicated is this, that the mind does not at once
accept and confirm the offered truth. Hasty and unquestioning recep
tion and confession of the truth is likely to result in persuasive rather
than in rational faith ; and, however sincere such a faith may be, it is
liable to be shaken like a reed with the ever-varying breath of human
opinion. There is a healthy as weU as a diseased scepticism ; a state
of doubt that leads to faith as weU as a state of doubt that ends in
infidelity. An affirmative principle underlies the doubt that is felt by
the true Israelite. He is wUling to be con-vinced, but is aware of the
danger of being deceived ; and the doubts through v.iiich he - makes
his way to faith only tend to enlarge and confirm it. Such was the
process through which Nathanael entered into faith. He was disposed
to believe, but did not at once yield to the evidence of the truth. He
was convinced that Jesus knew him ; he now desired to learn how the
Lord possessed that knowledge. Jesus answered Nathanael, by gi-nng
him a still more convincing evidence of Ms supernatural knowledge.
He said unto him. Before that Philip called thee, when, thou wast under
fhe fig tree, I saw thee. This disclosure of some circumstance of his
private life, which he was sure Jesus could only have known by omm-
scienoe, drew from him the full and free confession. Rabbi, thou art
the Son of God ; thou art the king of Israel. The connection be
tween the Lord's declaration and Nathanael's acknowledgment is not
without a spiritual lesson for us. The fig tree is symbolical of the ,
principle of natural goodness, by whicli we mean, not the good
ness which is natural in its origin, but sphitual goodness, as it enters
into and influences our natural thoughts and affections ; and which
may be caUed natural goodness from a spiritual origin. The di-vine
promises of the peaceful times, when they shaU sit every man under
his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid,
(Micah iv. 4), and when they shall caU every man his neighbour under
the "vine and under the fig tree (Zech. ui. 10), are promises to the
faithfid, that when the warfare of their spiritual hfe is accomplisheil.

Chap. l.J , ST. JOHN. 4;)
and all their evU passions and habits are subdued, they shaU dwell
tranquilly under the shadow and in the enjoyment of all the spiritual
iind natural goodness they have acquired. Nathanael had as yet, in
deed, realized only a part of this promise. His warfare was not yot
aocomplished ; it had not even properly begun. He had conquered
his doubts, and had acquired a true faith iu Jesus as Ms Saviour.
He had, therefore, entered into intellectual peace on the highest of aU
subjects, that which relates to the Lord Jesus as the Saviour of men.
Although Nathanael had yet a warfare before him, he had become pos
sessed of that power which was sufficient to make him more than
conquerer, for as it is the Lord himself that overcomes our evils
and errors, faith in him is that through which his power operates
in supporting us in our labors, and bringing us into that peace of
heart which passeth aU understanding.
50, 51. Promises of a still more perfect manifestation of the Lord
whom he had acknowledged were given to Nathanael. Jesus answered
and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig
tree, helievest thou 2 Thou shalt see greater things than these. Verily,
verily, I say unto you. Hereafter ye shall see heaven opened, and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
Nathanael had confessed Jesus to be the Son of God; the promise
now given relates to the Son of Man. There is no record of this hav
ing received a hteral fulfilment, unless we regard as such, the angels
ministering unto the Lord after Ms temptation in the wUderness (Matt.
iv. 11), aud the angel strengthening Mm during his agony in the garden
(Luke xxu. 43). In these cases the angels and their mimstry were
representative of a higher agency and work. They were merely pas
sive instruments like those angels of the Old Testament dispensation,
in whom God appeared and through whom he spoke. Jesus needed
not the aid of angels. The mhiistering of these angels was the out
ward representative appearance of an inward divine operation. It was
the Lord's own Divinity that sustained him in his temptations ; and
that ministered unto him after the conflict was past. The promise to
Nathanael is a promise to the Christian disciple, that he shaU be
privUeged to comprehend something of the nature of that divine work,
by which the humanity of the Lord was glorified, that his children might
be regenerated. The opening of heaven is the opening of the in
ternal man ; and the ascending and descending of the angels, through
the open heaven, upon the Son of Man, is the reciprocal communica
tion between the divine and the human nature of the Lord; the
ascending angels inthcating that the human nature was made divme,

44 ST. JOHN. [Chap. I.
and the descending angels indicating that the divine was made human.
His humanity was made divine by every thought and affection of his
human nature being exalted into union with his divinity; and his
divinity was made human by infinite love and wisdom being brought
down into his humanity. Such, at least, is the manner in which we
raay attempt to express our human ideas on this di-vine subject, of
which the highest angelic conception is faint and limited. One par
ticular of the Lord's statement we must, however, remember. Angels
ascended as well as descended upon the Son of Man. The angels that
ascended had first descended : for no one hath ascended up into heaven,
but he that came down from heaven. And as the angels were "angels
of God," and represented the divinity, whose messengers they were,
we learn that the very human thoughts of Jesus were divine in their
origin. Divine wisdom put on in the mind of Jesus the form of
human thought, divine love put on the form of human affection, and
then ascended with them through heaven to the eternal divinity from
whom they came. And when all that was human was thus made
divine, and all that was divine was thus made human, then was ful
filled the Lord's divine prayer, " Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son
also may glorify thee" (chap. xvii. 1). In regard to man and his re
generation, the Son of Man is the Lord's divine truth in the natural
mind, and God is his divine truth in the spiritual mind; and the
ascending and descending angels are the heaveiUy principles of truth
and goodness that serve to bring them into connection and conjunc
tion. Regeneration, considered as a completed work, is the conjunc-
-^ion of the inner and outer man ; and this is effected by the opening
of the inner man, and by the reciprocal and mutual operation of
heavenly principles within. The angels ascend and descend. Re
generation begins at the lowest point and ascends upwards tiU it
reaches the highest, and then descends. Man ascends from knowledn-e
to faith and from faith to love, and from love descends through faith and
knowledge into good words and works. TMs is the circle of regenera- .
tion. This upward aud downward progress is constantly going on, the
angels are ascending and descending at the same time ; for the Lord
operates with his Spirit from within, and with his Word from without.
Ascent and descent are reciprocal and correspondent ; and when these
two divine agencies meet and unite, regeneration and heaven are the
results.

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 45

CHAPTER IL
1. The miracle which the Lord performed at the marriage of Cana
in GalUee is, like aU his other works, pregnant with divine instruc
tion. This, the first manifestation of the Lord's miraculous power,
representatively shows forth the purpose of his coming ; which was to
enter into a new and everlasting covenant with his people. The
covenant between the Lord and his church is a marriage covenant, the
Lord himself being the bridegroom and husband, and the church the
bride and wife. It was, therefore, suitable that the first of the Lord's
mhacles should be performed at a marriage. Like every other cove
nant, marriage is entered into by mutual consent, and is established on
certain conditions ; the conditions of marriage being mutual love and
mutual service. The Lord has engaged to love and cherish his church,
and he requires to be loved and served in return. The conditions can
never be less than fulfilh d on his part. His nature is sufficient to
assure us of this. But his promise has been given. To his church
he has said, " I wiU betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I wUl betroth
thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness,
and in mercies" (Hos. ii. 19). How could it be otherwise, when he
has declared, " I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore
¦with loving-kindness have I dra-wn thee" (Jer. xxxi. 3). And the
Lord's love, which has been ever of old, wUl ever continue. " Can a
mother forget her sucking chUd, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb ? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not for
get thee" (Isa. xlix. 15). Whenever the covenant has been broken,
it has been through the conditions having been violated by the church.
And many and grievous are the lamentations of the Holy One over
the defections and backsliding of Ms corrupt and unfaithfiU spouse.
AU, therefore, that is required to form and preserve the marriage
covenant between the Lord and the chinch is the faithful and loving
fulfilment of the laws of the covenant by the church herself But the
marriage of the Lord and the church implies and rests upon another
marriage, of wMch the members of the church indi-viduaUy are the
subjects. The church as a body, as it is in the Lord's sight, consist^
of those, and of those only, who have the principles of the church
in their hearts and manifest them in then lives. Those only are the
chUdren of the marriage who have the marriage in themselves. The
union of love and faith is the heavenly marriage. This is the marriage

46 ST. JOHN. . [CHAf. II.
into which we should desire to enter. Without it, we are guests
without the wedding-garment, and shall be cast out into outer dark
ness. The true marriage to us individuaUy is, therefore, the conjunc
tion of goodness and truth, or of love and faith ; this alone making
us children of the marriage.
The marriage which the Lord blessed with his presence was in
Cana of Galilee, to represent that he was about to raise up a spiritual
church among the Gentiles, in place of the representative church,
which had been established among the Jews, which was now passing
away. It is true that this ivas a Jewish weddmg ; the people them
selves were Jews, and their surroundings and customs were Je-wish.
AU tMs was necessary and suitable. Although the church was to be
established among the Gentiles, it had to be commenced among the
Jews. The rudiment of every new church is formed out of the
remnant of the old. The first disciples and the twelve apostles were
Jews. But the election of a particular people to form a visible church,
does not imply any partiality in him who elects them ; much less does
it imply, that the benefits conferred are designed for those who directly
receive them, to- the exclusion of all others. On the contrary, though
establishetl visibly in one nation, the church exists for the benefit of
all nations, the visible church being, for the time, the centre from
which light is diffused in all directions outwards.
The narrative states that the marriage was on the third day. TMs
is mentioned for a more important reason than to inform us, that
this event followed a certain time after that recorded at the close of
the previous chapter. Three is a number expressive of completeness.
It here signifies that now, in the fulness of time, and when all neces
sary means were divinely provided, the Lord was about to commence
the church of his first advent. The resuscitation of the church, like
the resurrection of the Lord, took place on the third day ; for in the
divine economy, death is ever foUowed by newness of life, and every
end by a new beginning.
Regarding the marriage itself, the evangelist informs us that the
mother of Jesus was there. Mary was there in her dual chtiracter, as
the rnother of Jesus and as the representative of the church. The
church which Mary represented was that spiritual principle which is
embodied more or less perfectly in every -dispensation ; and which is
providentially preserved through all ages, so that when one disjtensa-
tion expires, the church may rise again in another ; though onl)"- in the
case of the Christian Church has it ever risen in a more perfect and
beautiful fortn than its predecessor. It is not, therefore, said of Mar\-,

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN. , 47
as it is of Jesus and Ms disciples, that she was bidden, but simply
that she was there. The vital principle of the church, which Mary
represented, was already amongst the GentUes, and had been, though
less visibly than amongst the Jews ; and it now served as a medium
of commuMcation between Jesus,, tis the author of saving truth, and
the new dispensation, as its recipient, that the new wine of his kiu"-
dom might be given to supply the new wants of the human race.
2. And both Jesus was called and his disciyles to the marriage.
Jesus is the divuie good and truth from which the church exists, and
his disciples are types of the love of good and the faith of truth, which
constitute the church or kingdomof the Lord, whether existing amoU"
the many or in the mind of one. Their being called to the marriage
is expressive of the chcumstance, that amongst the Gentiles there was
an active deshe to receive the Lord and the principles of Ms kingdom.
TMs imphes both a knowledge and an appreciation of divine and
spiritual truth. Of the partial existence of these amongst the Gentiles,
we have an evidence in the journey of the wise men from the East,
in search of Jesus, as the king of the Jews. The invitation to Jesus
and his disciples may be considered to have been, like the, miracle it
self, o-wing to the mother of Jesus being there. When the affection for
truth, wMch constitutes the vital principle of the church, is present in
the mind, the truth itself must be desired and sought, for good ever
desires truth. There are several instances recorded in the gospels of
Jesus being invited to partake of his people's hospitality ; and no in
stance is to be found of his refusing to become the guest even of the
most humble or the most unworthy of his creatures. How beautiful
an example of humUity and love ! His object, of course, was not merely
to please but to profit those who bade him. Any one influenced by
the same benevolent motive would be secured against contamination ;
and would be able to turn the entertainment into a feast of love. The
Lord's acceptance of these invitations teaches us this other and still
higher lesson : that no one who earnestly invites Jesus into Ms heart
wUl ever ask in vain ; and no one who entertains him wUl ever fail
to receive his blessing in return. And that blessing, in the present
instance, was both an increase and exaltation of the truth which the
church possessed.
3. The first incident connected with the celebration of the marriage
is the faUuig of the wine. There was no need of mentioning any
other, since the object of introducing the account of the marriage was
to record the miracle of wMch it was. the scene ; and the faUing of the
wine was the occasion of its performance. But the; incident and the

, 48 ST. JOHN. [Chap. II
marriage are intimately connected with each other. The faUing of the
wine symbolized the defect or extinction of spiritual truth in the
church. It was the mother of Jesus that intimated to him the faU
ing of the wine. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus
saith unto him. They have no wine. Mary, as representing the li-ving
principle of the church, through whose influence the Lord as the
truth was present, was the one to perceive the want of spiritual truth
iu the church, and to express that want to him who alone had the
power to supply it.
4. The answer of Jesus to this implied appeal for aid is singular.
The Lord addresses Mary, as he always did, by the name of Woman.
This is not to be judged of by our usage, as implying on the Lord's
part any want either of respect or affection. In those days woman
was a title of respect, if not of honor. There were two reasons for
the Lord's never addressing Mary by the name of mother, but always
by the name of woman. First, Jesus avoided calh'ng Mary his mother
for the same reason that he refused to acknowledge David as his father.
If he was Mary's Lord, how was he then her son ? He was, indeed,
the Son of Mary by natural birth, as he was the Son of Da-vid by
natural descent. But just as his humanity had been conceived by
the power of the highest overshadowing the virgin; so his human
thoughts were conceived by the power of his indweUing divimty
overshado-^ing his maternal humanity ; and so he spake as the Son of
God and the Son of Man, and not as the Son of Mary. For although,
in a certain respect, he was the Son of Man as to his maternal humamty,
yet, strictly speaking, this is a name which is expressive of his char
acter as the Word, as accommodated to the apprehensions of men. Be
fore the marriage in Cana, the glorification of the Lord's humamty had
so far advanced, that he could not regard and speak of himself as the
Son of Mary, but as the Son of God. He was born of God by glori
fication, as we are born of God by regeneration, and that work was
completed at the Lord's resurrection, when he was declared to be
the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead (Rom. i.
4). In the second place, the Lord called Mary woman, because this
is a symbolic designation of the church, which Mary represented.
When the Lord addressed her by the name of woman, it was to say to
her. What have I to do with thee ? This, however, is an unfortunate
rendering of the Lord's words ; their true meaning. What is that to me
and to thee ? has nothing of the severity, if not harshness, wMch our
version expresses. Even in their true sense, his words might be under
stood to mean, that the want of wine did not concern either Mary or

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN. 49
himself But it is evident from the effect they had upon her, that this
was not the Lord's meaning. As in some other instances of answering
interrogatively, he meant rather to excite reflection than to administer
reproof; and Mary herself seems to have understood it to mean rather
a promise than a refusal, since she desired the servants to do whatever
Jesus should say to them. Mary's part in this h-ansaction has been
considered somewhat inexphcable, for as this was the first of the
Lord's miracles, how should Mary expect him to perform one ? And
yet if she knew he possessed the power, there is nothing inconsistent
in her asking Mm to exert it, although there may be some degree of
improbabUity in her expecting it to operate in such a way. Does not
the narrative itself suggest that it contains a deeper meaning than
that which hes upon its surface? We have spoken of the Lord's
answer to Mary as not necessarUy expressing refusal. This appears
also from his concluding remark. Mine hour is nut yet come, wMch
seems to postpone, rather than to refuse, Ms interference. But what
was this hour of his ? Was it his own time for sho-wing his miracul
ous power ? It was a stiU more momentous period. The Lord's time
that lay within and beyond all these particular times, was the time of
Ms glorification. This was the state to which the Lord ever looked
forward as that of his power to do all for his church that he had come
on earth to do — to multiply to her the means of spiritual and eternal
hfe. Yet if that was the time which Jesus meant, why did he then
perform the work, which his remark seemed to speak of as untimely ?
He performed it as a type of the greater, because spiritual and sa-ving
work, which was to be a perpetual operation, when his humanity was
fuUy glorified ; just as he promised that his disciples should do greater
works than those which he himself performed, because he went to the
Father. The mhacle, like the marriage at which it was performed,
was but the shadow of good things to come — of the fulness and excel
lence of the provision which his divine mercy was about to make for
those who should enter into the heavenly marriage. It was, besides,
the beginning of his miracles, the initiament of the first state of his
regenerating work.
5. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you,
do it. We have already spoken of Mary as representing the church.
We may now remark, that when the church is spoken of as a mother,
which expresses the relation she bears to her chUdren, and only to Jesu*
so far as he was her Son, made under the law, she has a different yet kin
dred meaning to that which she has when spoken of as a wife, which ex
presses her relation to the Lord as a husband. A mother's love for her
D

50 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IL
children is the reflex of her love for her husband ; so the love of the
church for her members is the reflex of her love to the Lord ; she
sees and loves the Lord's image in them. The church, too, pleads for
her children, as Mary pleaded for the chUdren of the marriage ; yet she
pleads with one who, she knows, loves the children with a love still
deeper and stronger than her own. And not only does the mother
plead with the father for the chUdren, but she exhorts the chUdren to
obey the father, as Mary told the servants to do whatsoever Jesus said
unto them. And who are those servants ? The servants at the mar
riage, religiously considered, are not to be regarded as necessarily
inferior to the ordinary guests. The ministers of the church are
servants of the church. The angels are servants to their lower brethren
of the human race ; for are they not all ministering spirits sent forth
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? The Lord him
self acted as the servant of his humble disciples ; and he taught them
the sublime lesson which he exemplified — " he that would be greatest
among you let him be your servant." The servants of the marriage
are such as we frequently find in the Lord's parables, those who carry
out the wUl of the Lord as theh master. In the present case the
servants are not told to do the will of the governor of the feast, but
the will of Jesus, whose servants, in this matter, they are. Such are
the ministers of the church, such are the angels ; such, abstractly, are
the principles of holy truth, which serve the ends and aims of holy
love ; and such, finaUy, are the ultimate truths of the Lord's Word,
the Lord being, iu respect to them, the Word itself in its life and
light. 6. And there were set there six water-pots of stone after the manner
of the purifying of the Jeies, containing two err three firkins a-piece.
These vessels represent the precepts and statutes of the Jewish
Church; in a larger sense, the law as acknowledged by the Jews ;
in the largest sense, the Word in its literal form. The water,
which these vessels contained, represented the truth which God
gave the Jews, in and through their law, for purification and regenera
tion. The water-pots were si.x in number, because six is expressive
of a preparatory state, attended with trial and temptation, as
the six days of labour are preparatory to the sabbath of rest. The
Jewish dispensation was preparatory to the Christian, the law to tbe
gospel, and the letter to the spirit ; as the secular week was prepara
tory to the holy Sabbath : eminently, the Lord's life of labour aud
travaU was j)reparatory to the divine state of rest, into which he
entered by the union of his Humanity with his Divinity : hence our

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN.

51

Lord on the Sabbath day performed so many of his beneficent works,
which, however, were not works of conflict, but of mercy. The vessels
contained, or rather were capable of containmg, two or three firkins
a-piece. Two is a number that has relation to good and three to
truth. When our Lord said,' " Where two or three are gathered to
gether in my name, there am I m the midst of them," he meant to
teach us that wherever good and truth, and thence the good and the
faithful, are together and united, he is present as their central life. Of
the laws of the Word some are more for the purification of the heart ;
some more for the purification of the understanding. In the decalogue
we have examples of both kinds : " thou shalt not kill, thou shah not
bear false -witness." Every di-\ine law, however, includes both, witii
this difference, that in some the good is primary, wMle in others it is
secondary. One cannot exist in the law or in the mind without
the other. Pure affections cannot exist without pure thoughts, nor
pure thoughts without pure affections. They are distinct but not
separate. 7. These pots our Lord desired them to fiU with water, and they
filled them up to the brim. The Jews had emptied the law of its
meaning and deprived it of its power. The Lord filled it again, even
to the brim, both by his teaching and his life. The law is fiUed in two
ways, by restoring its true sense, and by fulfiUing its requirements.
The law is fiUed by being fulfiUed, a meaning which belongs to
the English as weU as to the Greek word ; for the father of English
poetry speaks of this " gentil May, fulfiUed of pity." The Lord's
restoring and fulfiUing the law, as to the letter, was represented by his
commanding the water-pots to be filled with water, and by their fiUing
them up to the brim, water being the type of natural truth, which
constitutes the true sense of the letter of the Word. The Lord
filled up the law in his teaching, and fulfiUed it iu his life. He re
stored the true sense and meaning of the Word, and he fulfiUed all its-.
requirements in his self-denying and beneficent life. But he taught .
that others were to do this also. It is the duty of the church and
of its members, in obedience to his divine command, thus to fill and'
fulfil the law, both by fUling up the measure of its true meaning, and.
teaching and doing what it truly requires.
8. When the servants had fiUed the water-pots with water, Jesus
saith unto them, Draw out noio and bear unto the governor of the feast.
And they bare it. It has been a question, whether the whole of the
large quantity of water which the vessels now contained was turned
into wine, a question which would hardly deserve consideration, but

52 ST. JOHN. [Chap. II.
for its relation to a spiritual meaning and practical use. The water,
there is good reason to believe, was turned into wine in the act cf
drawing it out, so that only that which was to be used was changed.
Analogous cases sanction this view. When the prophet Elijah cheered
the widow's heart by the promise of sustaining her in the famine,
it was not by telling her that her handful of meal and cruse of oU
would at once be largely increased, but by assuring her, that the meal
should not waste nor the oU fail, untU the day that the Lord sent
rain upon the earth (1 Kings xvii. 14). And when Elisha delivered
the poor widow from her merciless creditor, by enabhng her to dis
charge her debt, it was by causing her oil to multiply whUe she
poured it from the ciTise into the vessels she had borrowed to receive
it (2 Kmgs iv. 5). The same law of increase was exemplified by a
greater than these. When Jesus fed many thousands with a few
loaves and fishes, ho did not first produce the whole quantity re-
quhed to satisfy their hunger, but multiplied the food whUe he dis
pensed it. And thus it was in the present case. When, in obedience
to his command, the servants drew out, that which flowed from the
pots as water was received into their vessels as wine. And this feature
in aU these miracles teaches us this divine lesson, that the gifts of
heaven, however precious in themselves, are blest to us only in the
Vising. The servants, when they had drawn the wine, were desired to bear
it to the governor of the feast. The marriage feast m those times was
presided over by one, whose office it was to see to the proper entertain
ment of the guests, to preserve order and temperance, and promote
happiness. The marriage feast presents a faithful representation of the
spiritual feast in wdiich it originated ; for the festivals of our social
life are the outbirths and images of our spiritual states. Marriage is
the most important, and, when it is a true union, is the happiest
event of our natural life ; and caUs forth the warmest sympathy and
joy in others. The heavenly marriage of goodness and truth is the
great event of our spiritual life, and draws around it aU our best affec
tions. But when the natural affections are excited and inspired with
delight, they are liable, like the guests at the marriage feast, to run
into some degree of disorder and excess ; and require a ruler to direct
and govern them. Reasou is the legitimate ruler of our feasts, not
natural reason, but reason which acts under the influence of re
ligious principle. To this power the natural affections and thoughts,
passions and appetites, should ever be subject. Therefore, to the
governor of the feast was the wine directed to be taken, before the

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN. 53
guests were supplied. The Lord and the servants representing di-vine
truth in the first and last degrees of successive order, the governor and the
guests represent truths of the degrees which are intermediate. And it is
a law of order, according to which the Lord operates in aU his works, both
of creation and salvation, that power is exercised by what is first acting
by wiiat is last, wMlst by their combined action intermediate prin
ciples are perfected. We see this law^ exemplified in man as a created
being. He comes into existence possessed of a soul and a bod.y,
wMch are the first and the last constituents of his human nature ;
and by the action of the soul upon the bodj^, and the reaction of the
body upon the soul, the mind, which is intermediate, is developed
and perfected. So in the regeneration of man, wdiich is his spiritual
creation ; love, which is highest, by obedience, which is lowest, in
troduces, arranges, and jierfects all intermediate principles. By the
Lord's command the servants still draw out from the holy Word the
means of salvation. The vital principle conies from the Lord tMougli
the inmost of the soul, and obedience is the means by which it sup-
phes us with heavenly truth and life.
9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made
wine, and knew not whence it was : {but the servants which drew tlie
water knew :) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom. The
ruler knew that what he tasted was superior wine, but he knew not
whence it was. To know the truth and to know whence it is are
two distinct things. The first comes by revelation, the second by
iUustration ; the first by the knowledge, the second by the hght, of
truth. But although the ruler knew not whence the good wine was,
the servants that drew the water knew; for they represent those
truths that act immediately from the Lord, by which we have a percep
tion of the origin of spiritual truth. Eut when it is said that the ruler
knew not whence it was, the narrative shows that he supposed it had
been provided by the bridegroom. And so human reason, before it
is enlightened by the Lord's Spirit, imagines the truth to have a human
and not a divine origin ; or at least regards it as less than divine,
and traces it to a cause lower than the Infinite or Eternal. We see,
however, in this relation, that the perception of divine truth and of
its origin, in the process of regeneration, ascends ; first the servants,,
tiien the ruler, and lastiy the bridegroom, became acquamted with the,
fact that Jesus was the author and giver of the wine. For although
it is not related, there is a certainty that both the ruler and the bride
groom were thus led to the knowledge of the truth, that Jesus had
performed this great miracle.

54 ST. JOHN. [Chap. II.
10. When the ruler had called the bridegroom, he saith unto him,
!Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine ; and when men
have well drunk, then that which is worse : but thou has kept the good
wine until now. Every church commences with truth derived from
good, which is the good wine, and declines into truth without good,
which is the wine that is worse. This, at least, has been the case
with aU churches which have hitherto existed in the world. AU have
degenerated. When men had well drunk — or had drunk to excess —
the wine has become " worse." Intellectual and spiritual intoxication
arises from finding pleasure in truth without goodness, or faith without
works. All excess of truth over goodness is, to the extent of that
excess, a degree of spiritual or rather intellectual intoxication, and is
meant by drunkenness in the Word. Natural intemperance is no doubt
traceable to this spiritual cause. The ruler of the feast expressed his
surprise and approbation that the bridegroom had k ept the good wine
till the last. Every church previously existing had passed through
these descending stages, and had landed in a state of hypocrisy at last,
a state which is imphed iu the very circumstance of giving the guests
inferior wine, when they had become incompetent to judge of its quality.
But here was an exception to the general rule. The church wMch the
Lord was about to establish was to receive a higher degree of truth
than the members of the Jewish Church had ever possessed. The
spiritual truth of the Christian Church was more spiritual than that of
the Jewish Church, even in its best and palmiest days. The revelation
which is made at the commencement of any church, is made at the
end of the old, and to those belonging to it who are capable of
receiving the truth of the new dispensation. The inhabitants of
GalUee were of this description. They were nominally Jews, but es-
sentiaUy Gentiles. They were less deeply sunk in the Pharisaism
and Sadducism of the age. It is not those who are deeply versed in,
and strongly attached to, the doctrines of a consummated church
that hail the advent of a new dispensation, and become the earliest
recipients of its principles ; it is those who are in a state of simplicity,
whose hearts crave after some better things than elaborate and exclu
sive human creeds can supply. In this respect the Lord ever acts
differently from men. As a church degenerates, her truths degenerate
also ; and thus does the sUver of the church become dross, and her
wine mixed with water. Nay, it is permitted by a wise and merciful
Providence, that when the church declines into evil, she should fall
into error, that the truth may be saved from profanation, and that her
condemnaticiii mav be less severe than it would be by sinning an-aiust

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN. 55
the light. A new and higher dispensation can only originate in a new
revelation, or, what is the same, in a new and higher development of
that which already exists ; and even when this takes place, the things
of the kingdom are hid from the wise and prudent, and are revealed
unto babes.
11. The turning of water into wine at the marriage in Cana of
GalUee is caUed the beginning of the Lord's miracles. And how
ivortby of being recorded, and how deserving of admiration, is the
first in that series of beneficent works, by which the Saviour mani
fested his eternal power and Godhead, and dispensed his mercy to the
suffering and afflicted ; at the same time representatively exhibiting
those greater because spiritual and eternal works, by which humanity,
suffering from the effects of sin, is to be raised into higher states of
truth and righteousness. In the spiritual meaning of Scripture, the
first of a series always gives the key to the character of the whole ; so
that the first means, not only the first in the order of time, but the
first in the order of rank. Among all the similitudes of the kingdom
of heaven, marriage is the most exalted. It is the origin and end of
all things. The union of love and wisdom in God is the divine mar
riage, from which creation had its birth, and from which, through its
effects and images in created objects, it has its continuance. The same
divine marriage of infinite love and wisdom is in all the other divine
w^orks, of providence, revelation, redemption, and salvation. The union of
love and wisdom in the human mind is the spiritual marriage, which
forms the kingdom of God -within us. This is, in the particular sense,
the marriage to which the kingdom of heaven is compared, and from
this result all other unions, the marriage of the Lord and his church,
and the marriage of human pairs both on earth and in heaven. This
being the case, we can see the reason why the Lord performed his first
mhacle at a marriage ; and how it is that this first miracle enters into
aU the other miracles of our Lord. The turning of water into wine
was a sign (which the word for miracle here signifies) of the character of
aU the works of goodness and wisdom characteristic of the Christian
dispensation. Of the several dispensations that preceded the Christian
Church, each was less perfect than that which it followed. But the
CMistian Church was the beginning of an ascending series. The
church had descended from celestial to spiritual, from spiritual to
natural; when the Lord came, it began to ascend from natural to
spiritual, and from spiritual to celestial. Man had, so to speak,
turned the wine into water ; the Lord turned the water into wine.
The immediate effect of the Lord's miracle at Cana. was that it mani-

5tj ST. JOHN. [Chap, n.-
fested forth his glory, and his disciples believed, on him. The ihst
effect is agreeable to the meaning and jmrpose of the miracle; for
glory, in reference to the Lord, is the effulgence of divine light, wMch
is divine truth, by which his character and perfections are more clearly
revealed. And the result of this is, as stated in the narrative, that
his disciples believe on him. Not that this is the beginning of belief,
but that a purer and more spiritual faith is now begotten in them. The
disciples, it is evident, had believed in him before this miracle ; it did
not produce faith but exalted it. As the miracle itself represented
the changing of natural truth into spiritual ; the result of it was that
it changed their natural into a spiritual faith. This miracle is stUl per
formed in the minds of the regenerate. Our knowledge and belief still
begin in the letter. We know of the Lord first as the Nazarene, we
think of him first as the son of Joseph (chap. i. 45) ; and our first
faith in the Lord is as low and poor as our first conceptions of him.
But when we have accompanied the Lord to the marriage, and seen
the Avater turned into -wine, and in that miracle of di-sine power have
beheld his glory, our belief in the Lord begins to be spiritual and
heavenly. 12. After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and
his brethren, and his disciples. When the Scriptures speak of going
down, they speak of descent from a higher to a lower state. TMs
does not necessarUy mean exchanging a superior for an inferior state ;
it generally means, as it does here, carrying out the principles of au
inward faith into the actions of a holy life, descending from the mount,
wiiere we receive the law, into the camp, where it is to be carried into
effect. Such was the Lord's going down to Capernaum, which was
upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Naphtah (Matt. iv.
1 3) ; Capernaum thus signifying a state of the external life of man,.
whore there is the practical conjunction of goodness and truth. As a
city, Capernaum signifies doctrine. From its being the Lord's ovm city
it represents the doctrine of the Lord ; and from its situation the
doctrine of life. The Lord's going down to Capernaum, vith his
mother and his brethren and his disciples, teaches us that the Lord
leads Ms church, represented by his mother, aud her children, consist
ing of those who are in charity and faith, represented by his brethren
and his disciples, into the doctrine of the Lord and the doctrine of life.
Yet why should they, who had already entered into the marriage of
truth and good, be led thence into the doctrine of truth and good? For
the same reason that an apostle exhorts the faithful to add to their
faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge (2 Peter i. 5). Faith is enriched.

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN. 57
virtue is exalted by knowledge. It is also to be remembered that the
event celebrated is but the beginning of marriage. The union of minds
and souls, which constitutes true marriage, is effected graduallj', in the
course of the married hfe, by a growing assimUation of character,
produced by an increasing knowledge and love of each other, and of
what is good and true. Indeed, marriage advances with regeneration ;
and this, we know, is the work of a lifetime; and not tiU regenera
tion is completed is marriage perfected, if that can be said to be ever
perfected which goes on increasing in perfection to eternity. Thus the
marriage of husband and wife, an.d the marriage of truth and goodness,
go hand iu hand. And as the Lord is the Author of both, he leads
his people through the necessary stages of fheir spiritual journey,
from theh' introduction into the marriage state tUl their entrance
into the heavenly marriage above. In Capernaum the Lord and his
mother and disciples continued not many days. As periods of time mean
states of life, these natural days mean states of spiritual life. Numbers,
in the spiritual sense, do not mean quantity but quality, and every
particular number is expressive of a certain quality. Here, however,
no specific number is mentioned. When many and few are spoken of, as
they frequently are in Scripture, many has relation to truth and few
to goodness ; as where it is said that many are called but few chosen,
which does not necessarily mean that few are saved out of the many that
are called, but that it is the true who are called, the good who are chosen.
The Lord, and those who are with him, continuing in Capernaum not
many days, means, therefore, that the state into which the children of
the marriage are led, as here represented, is a state rather of the good
than of the truth of doctrine.
13. The Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. During his life on earth the Lord went up three times to
.Terusalem, to the feast of the passover. As the law reqiured that
every male shoidd appear tMee times a year at Jerusalem, we may re
gard the Lord's three visits as intended to fulfil this requirement, and
as having the same representative character. The passover, at which
the paschal lamb was eaten, as a memorial of that night when the first-
bom of Egypt were slain, and when Israel obtained dehverance from
-Egyptian bondage, typified the glorification of the Lord's humanity,
a/the Lamb of God that taketh away the sm of the . world, and by
the power of which human redemption was effected. The Lord also
glorified his humanity by three distinct acts, or rather stages of pro
gression ; for his glorification, like man's regeneration, ascended from
natural to spuitual, and from sphitual to, celestial; but in him these

58 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IL
states were divine, while in all others they are human and finite ;
his states were divine-natural, divine-sphitual, divine-celestial. And
thus Ms humanity, being divine, is equaUy, and indeed more present
with us now than when he lived on earth ; aud he still goes up to the
passover, when we are spiritually in that state which the paschal feast
represented ; when, like the children of Israel, we have made every
preparation to go out from the midst of our enemies, with our staff iu
our hand and our sandals on our feet, to set out on our journey to
the heaveMy Canaan.
14. The glorification of the Lord's humanity being represented by
the passover, therefore when he went up to Jerusalem to attend the
feast, he, as here recorded, proceeded to purify the temple, wdiich was
the symbol of the temple of his body. He found in the temple those
that sold oxen, and sheep, und doves, and the changers of money
sitting. It may seem inconsistent with the Lord's perfect innocence to
suppose, that his humanity had any qualities in it, which coiUd be re
presented by these mercenary dealers in the temple. We are, how
ever, carefully to distinguish between hereditary and actual evU.
The Lord inherited from his human mother all the hereditary imper
fections of our common nature, without which he could not have been
a Saviour from sin. The grand difference between the Lord and every
other man was, that while he inherited aU men's evils, he com
mitted none of their sins. Not in his birth, but in his life, he was
wholly undefiled and separate from sinners. He took our corrupt
nature upon him for the very purpose of removing its corruptions. He
did not find it, but he made it, without spot and blemish. Our Lord's
temptations and great trials consisted iu his conflicts with the inherited
corruptions of his human nature, or rather with the powers of dark
ness, which assailed him through those corruptions ; and Ms triumphs,
by which he attained perfection, consisted in his at once overcoming
the powers of darkness who assaUcd him, and purifying his humamty
from the hereditary evils through which theh assaults had come.
The oxen and sheep and doves are the merely human affections and
thoughts which belonged to the Lord's maternal nature, and the money
which was changed is the knowledge connected with them. The
oxen aud sheep and doves and money were not indeed in themselves
evil, but only became so by being introduced into the temple. The
selling and buying and money-changing were necessary for the
temple service, but the traffic should have been carried on beyond the
precincts of the building ; by being intruded into the sacred edifice,
that which had ministered to holiness became profane. In the

<^HAP. n.] ST. JOHN. 59
Lord's case, the intrusion of these unhallowed things does not repre
sent an act of his own, but an inherited condition. His act con
sisted, not in introducing them, but in drivmg them out. WhUe,
in its highest sense, this relates to the Lord, iu its lower meanings
it applies also to the church and to the human mind. In their case,
such evUs obtain admission, not only by inheritance but by choice ;
but they, unhke the Lord, cannot themselves drive them out; the
Lord alone can do this for them, by their consent and during their
co-operation : aud he can do this work in them, because he had done
it in himself; for their regeneration is the effect of his glorification.
15. When he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove tliem all
Old of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out fhe
changers' money, and overthrew the tables. The small cords of which
he made the scourge are the truths of his holy word, which become a
scourge when they are employed in the way of judgment, to chastise and
expel evUs and intentional errors. His pouring out the money is the
dissipation or dispei-sion of all falsities, and his overturning the tables
is the overthrowing of the evils in wMch false principles are grounded.
In regard to the church and to man, the Lord's judgments, it is to
be remarked, are not upon persons but upon principles. Divine
truth, by which judgment is effected, is dhected against the evils and
errors which are opposed to it ; and the only difference between judg
ment on the righteous and on the wicked is this, that the righteous
yield to the judgment, and wiUingly forsake the evils and errors
which the truth condemns, whUe the wicked resist the truth wMch
judges their e-vils and errors, and are therefore cast out from the Lord's
presence -with the evils which they love and cherish. So far as re
gards the Lord, his judgments are the same upon all ; the same in
their character, the same in their purpose ; ever in his judgments
the Lord remembers mercy, that is to say, all his judgments are full
of mercy, and only those who refuse mercy hi judgment are judged
without mercy.
16. He said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence. It
was natural that these dealers should be required to remove their
doves from the temple, for they could not like the sheep and oxen be
driven out. But there is an analogy in this to a sphitual truth.
Doves, we have said, signify thoughts; these belong to the under
standing or the rational faculty; they must be removed, not by pres
sure, but by persuasion ; not by an act of the wUl, but by an act of
the reason. To aU the mercenary dealers, as weU as to those who sold
doves, the Lord said. Make not my Father's house an house of mer-

60 ST. JOHN. [Chap. II„
ehandise. The Lord, it wUl be observed, calls the temple a house' and
his Father's house. Of the two names applied to the sacred edi,
fice, one has relation to truth and the other to good. The Lord's
humanity, the church, and the regenerate man are called a temple,
when regarded as to the principle of truth, and a house when regarded
as to the principle of good. Man is a temple of God when he re
ceives the Lord in faith, and a house of God when he receives the
Lord in love ; or, as the regenerate man is both a teiuple and a house
of God, his regenerated understanding is the Lord's temple and his re
generated wiU is the Lord's house. The Lord also calls the temple
his Father's house, for Ms Father is the di-vine love itself To make
his Father's house a house of merchandise, is to profane the good that
comes from God, by turning it into a means of selfish gain. TMs can
only be done by frail and finite man. In our Lord's case no shadow of
tMs occurred in actual life. What aU other men do, he was indeed
tempted to do ; but with the tempter he drove every hereditary imper
fection out of the temple of his humanity, until he made it the verv
house of God, Ms Father's house, the eternal habitation of his essential
Divinity. 17. When the disciples saw this exhibition of the Lord's zeal for
the honour of the temple, they remembered that it was written. The zeal
of thine house hath eaten me up. In the Old Testament the zeal of the
Lord is often spoken of, though it sometimes appears in our version
under the name of jealousy. In regard to the feeling itself, zeal is the
ardour of love, and is more especiaUy manifested in lindicating and
protecting the innocent from injury or evil. Zeal, as a sphitual feel
ing, is analogous to anger as a natural feeling. They differ httle in
their outward appearance, but are essentially unlike in their inward
character. Both aro the warmth of lo-".'3, but one is tiie warmth of
heavenly love, aud the other is the warmth of infernal love. Zeal de
sires only to vindicate those it loves, anger desires to punish those it
hates. Frora the apparent similarity between zeal and anger, God
himself is often spoken of as being angry. In Mm, however, there is no
shadow of anger. The only instance in whicli auger is attributed to
Jesus is that recorded in Mark (in. 5), wiiere it is said that he looked
round about on the persecuting Jews in anger, being grieved for
the hardness of their hearts. This is the character of di-vine anger,
or that wMch is so called in the letter of Scripture ; it is the warmth
of love and mercy, for mercy is love grieving ; and that anger which
originates hi grief is in reality zeal, and oiUy appears as anger to the
evU. The Scripture, which the disciples remembered, occurs iu the

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN. 61
69th Psahn, which treats of the Lord's severest temptations, even to
the passion of the cross. And what was that zeal for his Father's
house, wMch had consumed the Lord the Sa-\iour, but the love which
he had for the church, and indeed for the whole human race ? Zeal
for the salvation of mankind, including love for heaven and the
church, as his temple and house, was that by which the Lord was
actuated in his redeeming work, and from which he fought against
the powers of darkness, as weU as against the principalities and powers
of the world. This zeal was his very life, his love ; it absorbed Ms
whole being, and even the acts of judgment in which it came forth
were in their essence acts of mercy. " Unto thee, 0 Lord, belongeth
mercy, for thou renderest to every man according to his work'' (Psa.
IxU. 12).
18. But there -was another class that were spectators of this mani
festation of boh' zeal and superhuman power. The Jews answered
and said urdo him. What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou
doest these th ings. Those who are in a negative state want not reasons
but signs. It is not enough for them to have the evidences which the
truth gives of itself, they demand evidences which they themselves
think necessary ; they do not wish to be con-vinced by the power of
truth, but induced to believe by the evidence of the senses ; they, in
effect, want a sign which will induce them to believe that which
they regard as in itself incredible, or unworthy of belief The Lord
is indeed the Author as weU as the Object of faith ; but he does
not compel assent through appeals to the senses, but produces belief
through truths addressed to the mind.
19. Jesus, therefore, answered the demand of the unbelieving Jews
by saying. Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
This was indeed a sign, but it was one wMch the Jews at that time
understood not ; and when the sign itself was afterwards given them,
they refused to believe it. How then could they believe that wMch
it signified? They destroyed the temple when they crucified the
Lord. TMee days afterwards the Lord restored the temple which
they had destroyed, in rising from the dead in Ms glorified
humamty ; in which also was fulfiUed the prediction of one of their
own prophets, " The glory of this latter house shaU be greater than
of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts, and in this place wUl I give
peace, saith the Lord of Hosts" (Hag. ii. 9). This raismg of the temple,
or the glorification of the Lord's humanity, is the sign of signs. It is not
an outward but an hiward sign ; and not merely the highest evidence
of truth, but the deepest ground of faith. But the power of this sign

C2 ST. JOHN. [CH.iP. IL
comes to us through another. The Lord's glorification, completed in
his resurrection, is the origin of man's regeneration. Regeneration is
the Lord's resurrection in us, aud therefore is the inward and practical
evidence to us that the Lord is our Redeemer and Saviour. There can
be no true faith where this evidence is whoUj"- wanting. An old
nature and a new faith is a contradiction. A new faith and a new
heart must come together; a broken heart and a contrite spirit, humUity
nf heart and of understanding, are both necessary for preparing the
mind to receive faith. We must come to the cross, and there lay
do-wn our life, for it is only by dying with the Lord that we can rise
with him, and that we can know him and the power of his resur
rection. 20. But the Jews answered, Forty and six years was this temple in
building, and icilt thou rear it up in three days i This was not the
temple of Solomon, but that which was rebuUt at the return from
Babylon, and afterwards renewed by Herod the Great. The forty and six
years wdiich the Jews say were occupied in building this temple, are ex
pressive of the quality of the church which it represented. Forty is a
number which, like the forty years' journey and the forty days' tempta
tion in the wUderness signifies temptation, and six has a simUar mean
ing, which is derived from the six days of labour that precede the sabbath
of rest. The temple which then existed, like the church which it re
presented, was enthely different and far less magnificent than at its first
establishment. The first temple, the building of which had been expres,sly
reserved for the prosperous and peaceful reign of Solomon, was rebuUt
in adverse and troublous times, and was the sign of a troubled and
greatly depreciated state of religion. The Lord did not come to de
stroy that temple, for he never comes to destroy but to save. The
Jews themselves destroyed it, by destroying every principle of the
church iu themselves, the destruction of the temple of the Lord's body
being at once the effect and the sign of the extinction of religion in
their hearts and understanding. The church which the Lord was to raise
up on the ruins of that which they had destroyed, was a new and glorious
church, a temple that not simply foreshadowed, but was the image of
his own glorious body ; the three days in which it was to be built
up being expressive of its quality, as derived from, and a likeness of
the Lord's glorified humanity, the effect and the form of his good
ness and truth.
21. But he spake of the temple of his body. This was not a mere
comparison but a correspondence, for the temple represented his
humanity, as it also represented the church ; for the church is his

Chap. IL] ST. JOHN.

63

mystical body, as his humanity is his own glorious body. The Jews
understood him as aUudiug to the temple at Jerusalem. This is an
iUustration of a difference which exists between the Lord's truth and
man's apprehension of it. The words of the Lord, as they proceed
from his hps, or are revealed in the Scriptures, have a meaning of their
o-wn, very different from that which they have in the natural mind of
man. As they proceed from the Lord they are divine ; as they enter
the mind of the natural man they are merely natural, and are too
often turned into what is opposite to their original meamng and in
tention. 22. The disciples themselves had either like the Jews misunderstood
or had afterwards forgotten the deep significance of the Lord's words.
It was only iihen he loas risen from the dead that his disciples remem
bered he had said this unto them ; and it was only then that they believed
the Scripture, and the word tohich Jesus had said. We know it was
hid from them that the Lord was to be crucified and was to rise the
third day. There is a meaning as well as a mystery in the circum
stance of the disciples remaining in ignorance or passing into forget
fulness of facts so remarkable, repeatedly and solemnly declared unto
them. It was to hold up to the Lord's disciples in all future ages an
image of that which takes place in themselves. The Lord's disciples
cannot truly know the death and resurrection of the Lord tiU they
take place in their o-wn experience ; they cannot understand the great
mystery of the Lord's death and resurrection in relation to themselves
tUl their understandings are opened by the risen Lord breathing upon
them the Holy Spirit of his glorified humanity. It is not till after
he is risen in our o-wn hearts, that we savingly remember the words
which he has uttered in our ears. The remembrance of these things
does not consist in their being in the outward memory ; they must
be inscribed on the inward memory, before we can truly possess
them, or spiritually call them to remembrance. It is on the inner
memory, which is that of the spirit, that spiritual and eternal truths
are inscribed, and they can only come into living remembrance, when
the Lord's resurrection is realized in our regeneration. Then it is that
we believe the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. The
written and the incarnate Word bear the same testimony, but the one
speaks to us through the ear, and the other reveals himself to us
through the heart ; nor is the outward testimony of the one ever truly
understood or behoved, till the inward witness of the other enters into
it with its spirit and its life.
23. When he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day.

64 ST. JOHN. [Chap. II.
many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
The passover was the time when the Jews from all parts of Palestine
went up to keep the feast. The Lord's purpose in going up to
Jerusalem at this time was no doubt not only that he might celebrate
the passover, but that he might preach the gospel of the kmgdom to
the people there assembled, and also that his hfe might be the com
plete representative of Ms living operation m the church and in the
minds of men. For when we consider Jerusalem as representing the
church, the g-reat festivals, such as the passover, repretsent those states
and times when her chUdren are gathered together, not necessarily in
0118 place, but in one state, and when the Lord is more immediately
and sensibly present among them. But when Jerusalem is regarded
as a type of the church as it exists in one individual mind, those who
go up to Jerusalem represent the affections and thoughts wMch are
drawn together and united in one common object. When the thoughts
and affections are concentrated upon some religious subject or holy
observance, the Lord is present and acts upon them, for the purpose
of inspiring purer feelings and a holier faith. The Lord's mhacidous
works, whUe they gave health and strength to the body, symbolized
corresponding saving effects wrought in the soul. Mhacles themselves,
wonderful and beneficent as were those which our Lord performed,
have exercised but little power or influ.ence of a spiritual kind on the
minds of men, in producing faith in him who performed them. A miracle
may, however, confirm or strengthen a faith already existing, as the
miracle at the marriage in Cana did -with the disciples, who had aheady
acknowledged Jesus. Many, it is true, beheved in the name of Jesus
when they saw the miracles he did at the feast ; but this fact seems
to be told for the very purpose of sho-wing that such belief was ex
tremely superficial, and produced no sphitual change in the minds of
those who acquired it. This appears from what is recorded in the
next verse.
24, 25. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, becunse he knew
all men, and needed not thut any should testify of man : for he k7iew
what was in man. We might, therefore, say that many believed in
him, but did not beheve from him. He was not in theh behef as its
Author and Object, in any saving sense. Behef means trust, and none
truly believe in the Lord, but those who trustingly rely on him as their
Saviour. It is said that Jesus did not commit himself unto them,
more correctly, he did not trust himself to them. And his want of
trust in them shows and expresses, in the spiritual sense, their want of
trust in him. He did not trust himself to them, because he knew aU

Chap. III.] . ST. JOHN. G5
men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what
was in man. What more could be said to teach us that the Lord was
omniscient? Who can know the hearts of men but the Searcher of
hearts? Jesus knoAvs our faith, whether it be produced from without
or generated from within. How impressive is the fact, that the Lord
does not entrust himself to those who have no inward spiritual faith.
And why is this, but because they have no real trust in him. Trust in
Mm does not arise from truth but from goodness; not from faith in the
understanding, but from faith in the heart. Those only put their trust
in the Lord who love Mm. Trust is the submission of our own will
to Ms wUl ; and none can have this trust but those Avhose faith is the
faith of love.

CHAPTER III.

It is remarkable that some of our Lord's most important lessons of
doctrine and practice were drawn from him by persons who sought his
advice or instruction, and even by some who endeavoured to entangle
Mm in his talk ; so that it seems as if many of the precious truths of
the gospel owed theh existence to the accidental circumstance of some
human inquiry. But things accidental are not fortuitous. What
natural men caU chance, spiritual men caU Providence. All tMngs
that happen are di-vinely ordered or permitted, and for some wise and
benevolent purpose. Besides, the sense of need, and the deshe for
hght, which drew Nicodemus, as weU as others, to Christ, were insphed
by him who could bestow the blessing. This shows that divine in
struction is adapted to human want. And when we reflect that every
sincere deshe to receive the Lord's light is insphed by his love, since
no one can come to the Son except the Father draw him, we can see,
that whUe the occasion of these lessons is human, the cause of them
is di-vine ; and that pro-vidence and revelation are coincident as well as
concordant. But all who, like Nicodemus, come to Jesus, to learn the
truth relating to eternal life, are dhected to the Lord by his works,
especiaUy those mhacles of grace that act upon the -wiU, and incline
the mind to hsten to the truth.
1. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of
the Jews. Such is the description of him tMough whom our Lord
dehvered to his church his divine lesson on the subject of the new or
heavenly birth. The darkest times sometimes produce the greatest
E

66 ST. JOHN. [Chap. 111.
lights, and the most coriupt the brightest examples. The Pharisees
produced a Nicodemus and a Paul. The characters of these men, both
eminent, are yet strongly contrasted. Nicodemus was timid, Paul was
bold ; Nicodemus Avas fitted to be a disciple, Paul to be an apostie.
The different characteristics of these men are determined by constitu
tion rather than by state. They may be equaUy sincere, and both
eminently useful. The one forms a link of connection betAveen the
neAv and the old during a period of transition, the other supports the
new against the old in a time of separation ; the one is a man of peace,
the other is a man of AA^ar. Yet Nicodemus Avas a ruler, AA'hich bespeaks
and represents that human quality Avhich Ave call iuteUectual, but he
Avas a ruler of the Je-Avs, AAdiich marks the character of his intellect as
being of the celestial class, a Jew being expressive, in the genuine
sense, of what has relation to the Avill and to goodness. Such being
the character of those represented by Nicodemus, Ave may more readUy
understand what is related of him, and what Jesus said to him respect
ing the regeneration, or the new birth.
2. The same came to Jesus by night. Privacy, and perhaps fear of
the JeAvs, were the motives Avhioh actuated the JcAvish ruler in making
this visit by night. Yet he Avho so unsparingly censured hypocrisy
did not reprove this privacy. Night has, hoAvever, another use than
that of sheltering darkness ; it is the sign of mental obscurity. And as
John appeared in the wilderness of Judea, preaching the gospel, to re
present the desert state of the church ; so Nicodemus came in the night,
to represent the state of darkness into Avliich it had sunk, respecting
everything relating to spiritual and eternal life. The religious Nico
demus comes also in the night of his own spiritual darkness, to seek
and to see Jesus as the Light. And this is the language in wMch he
addresses him : Rabbi, loe know that thou art a teacher come from God.
To salute Jesus as Rabbi is to acknowledge him as Master, the supreme
authority in matters of faith and life. " Be not caUed masters, for one
is your Master, even Christ" (Matt, xxiii. 10). He Avho is the truth
itself is the only authority in matters of faith. But Nicodemus not
only addressed the Lord as a teacher, but as a teacher oome from God ;
not only as divme truth, but as divine truth coming forth from divine
love. This Jesus Avas. Nicodemus had been led to believe Jesus
to be a divinely commissioned teacher, because of tbe mhacles he
l^erformed : for, said he, no man can do these miracles that thou doest, e.c-
cept God be with him. The JeAvish ruler took, so far, the right view
of these supernatural works, iu regarding them as evidences of the
character of him who performed them, and of his being sent from God;

Chap. III.] ST. JOHN.

67

and he came to him as a teacher, to learn the message, of which he be-
Ueved him to be the bearer. This inquirer, as it is natural to suppose,
had but imperfect notions of the true character of Jesus : and who can
know the Lord truly but from his own teaching ? To know that God
is with Jesus is, however, a step toAvards knowing that God is in him
and that he Mmself is God.
3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee
Except a man be bm-n again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. TMs
is one of the primary truths of the gospel, the meaning of which is
better expressed in the original, Avhich speaks not of being born again
'but of being born from above. Of the nature of this divine Avork,
Avhich alone can prepare the mind for heaven, it is most important that
Ave should have some definite and clear ideas. The second and heavenly
birth, which our Lord teaches, is not a mere figure but a great reality.
It is a bhth as real and actual as that wMch ushers us into existence in
this world. There is a constant correspondence between natural opera
tions and spiritual, or betAveen what is done in the body and what is
done in the spirit. From this correspondence, the stages of spiritual
regeneration answer to those of natural concejDtion, gestation, birth,
and education. It is on this ground that, whenever mention is made
in the Word of natural bhths, they signify spiritual births, or the
birth of goodness and truth in the mind. It is from this ground too
that the Lord is called Father, and that the church is called mother,
and that those who have received the principles of goodness and truth
from the Lord are said to be born of God, and to be his cMldren, and
in relation to each other are oaUed brethren. As there is a corre
spondence in all things that relate to the body and all that relate to th s
soul, we may see the nature of the second birth from that of the first.
As the life of the body is dependent on the motion of the heart and
the lungs, the life of the soul depends ou that of the avUI and the
understanding. By birth the will and the understanding are natural,
being devoted exclusively to the things of this life. Regeneration
consists in the beginning, formation, and birth of a new wiU and a ucav
understanding, Avhich, as they come from heaven, are devoted to
heavenly things. The Word, treating of the soul by images and
language relating to the body, calls regeneration the creation of a new
heart and a new spirit ; as in the Psalms, " Create in me a clean
heart, 0 God, and rencAv a right spirit within me" (li. 10). In ac
cordance Avith the same imagery, the old avUI, or the natural heart of
man, is called a heart of stone, and the ueAV will is caUed a heart of flesh
(Ezek. xxxvi. 26). To receive a new heart and a new spirit is to receive

68 ST. JOHN. [Chap. III.
a new wUl and a new understanding, and as a consequence, new affec
tions and thoughts, a new life and conversation, and thus hi reality to
become a new man. This is to be born from above, a chUd of God,
and an heir of his kingdom.
4. But Nicodemus failed to see the truth Avhich the Lord declared
to Mm. He answered, How can u mun be born lohen he is old? cun
he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be horn? This
expresses at once ignorance and concern ; ignorance of the bhth uf
wMch the Lord spake, and concern for his own salvation, which seemed
to him to rest dn so impossible a condition. Yet the second bhth, as
Nicodemus had first conceived of it, had such a birth been possible,
Avould not have been a bhth from heaven, but from the Avorld, and at
best but a repetition of that which he had already experienced. There
is perhaps something of the spirit and notion of Nicodemus, in the
desire which natural men often have, of returning again into the inno
cence and happiness of their childhood. And yet in this sighing for
the purity of early life, there is the germ of a yearning for the new
life, Avhich combines the innocence of infancy Avith the Avisdom of
manhood. We may see, therefore, in this turn m the thought of Nico
demus, the influence of those remains of the innocence and ignorance
of childhood, in turning the mind Avith a tender longing for Avhat the
new birth can alone supply. All, at first, form natural conceptions of
spiritual things, earthly ideas of heavenly states. W^here, however,
there is a spiritual desire, there is the ground for receiving the seeds of
sphitual truth.
5. Having excited in the mind of the JoAvish ruler a deshe for
spiritual knowledge, and a fear of exclusitui from the kingdom of God,
Jesus proceeds to instruct him respecting the nature of that birth
which qualifies the soul for heaven : E.i:cept a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John's
baptism is distinguished from the Lord's by this : John baptized with
water ; Jesus baptized Avith the Holy Spirit and Avith fire. The Lord
here combines the two baptisms, and calls them the baptism of water
and the Sphit. John's baptism Avas a type of .that preparatory part
of the ueAv birth Avliich is called reformation; the Lord's baptism
consists of that part Avhich is properly caUed regeneration. The fhst
consists in the removal of what is old and dead, the secoiul consists hi
the communication of what is new aud living. Water is the truth by
which the life is purified ; the Spirit is the truth by Avhich the mind is
enlightened and inspired. The Lord, therefore, speaks of the whole
process of man's renewal ; the reformation of the outward life by the

Chap. IIL] ST. JOHN. 69
truth of the literal sense of the Word, and the regeneration of the
internal by the truths of the spiritual sense of the Word, meant by
the Spirit. To be born of Avater and the Spirit is, therefore, to be born
from above, for the Word, or the truth Avhich it reveals, is from
heaven, and is above all the natural and moral truth which man derives
from the light of this world, wMoh relates to this natural and temporal
life. But Avhat are Ave to understand by being horn of Avater and the
Spirit? Are we to suppose that to be baptized is to be born of water ;
and that the water Avashes aAvay original sin? This, by some, is called
baptismal regeneration. Water baptism has an immediate and import-
taut use. It is a sign of introduction into the church. As, at our
Lord's baptism, heaven was opened unto him, and the Spirit descended
and abode upon him ; so, there is every reason to believe, baptism has
stiU the effect of opening heaven, and surrounding the person baptized
Avith a sphere of heaveMy influences, to preserve him in a state favour
able to the reception of that divine truth of Avhich the water of
baptism is the symbol, and to the accomplishment of that purification
wMch the wasMng of baptism represents.
6. The Lord further teaches the nature of the second birth, by
showing wherein it differs from the first. That which is bom of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Nothing
could be more plain and decided than this. That which we derive
from our earthly parents is natural ; that which Ave derive from our
heavenly Father is spiritual. There is, however, something more con
tained in the meaning of the Avorcl flesh than may at first sight appear.
Flesh, as a term expressive of the nature of man, is not confined to-
what is generally caUed its physical part, but means his whole nature,
both mortal and immortal, Avhich he inherits by birth, Avith aU he ac-
qmres to himself while he continues in his natural or unregenerate state;.
it means his entire selfhood. And as man, Avhen be becomes spiritual
by being re-born, has a new Avill and a new understanding, therefore tli&
natural avUI and the natural understanding constitute the flesh, as dis
tinguished from, and opposed to, the spirit. In a s]-)ecial sense the flesh
means the evil of self-love, which constitutes the very essence or decjiest
ground of man's selfhood, and which is the root of aU others. In rela
tion, however, to those Avho are Avell disposed, and who may be called
good natural men, the flesh is expressive of natural goodness ; and
our Lord's words teach us that even natural goodness, undhected bj"-
spiritual truth, and uninfluenced by spiritual goodness, does not pre^
pare the soul for entering into the kingdom of heaven; being ofthe earth,

70 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IIL
it is earthly, and therefoie transitory. " AU flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as a flower of the field : the grass AAuthereth, the
flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it" (Isa. xl.
6). But contrasted Avith the withering grass and the fading flower is
the Word of God Avhicli stands forever (ver. 8). As the Word itself,
so whatever is born of the Word, endures ; because, having come
from heaven, it returns to heaven again. And the Lord places this hi
contrast with our fleshly nature, by caUing it regenerating: " that Avhich
is born of the Spirit is spirit. ' The Spirit of which the Lord here
speaks is that Avhich proceeds from his humanity ; the saving opera
tion of which makes us ncAv, in a sense analogous to that iu wMch Ms
own humanity Avas made new.
7, 8. Our Lord having stated this important doctrine, addresses the
astonished Nicodemus thus. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Te must
be bmn again. The JeAvish ruler had already expressed his astoMsh-
ment at the mere idea of a new birth ; hoAV then must he have mar
velled when the Lord explained to him, that the birth of Avhich he
-spake was spiritual and from heaven. Although he now heard that
this change was purely spiritual in its nature, he seems to have sup
posed that it was to be effected by some outAvard visible agency; Jesus,
therefore, points out to him that it was to be effected by an unseen,
and CA-en unperceived, operation of the Spirit. The wind bloweth wliere
¦it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence
it cometh or whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
^We are not to understand this to mean, that man's regeneration is
effected by the Lord without his knowledge, and even Avithout his con
sent. It no doubt teaches us that regeneration is a divine work,
effected by an inward operation in itself incomprehensible to the
human mind, but it does not teach that it is done independently of the
choice and co-operation of those who are the subjects of it. It is
simUar to the description of another part of the same process, m wMcli
the Lord compares the kingdom of heaven to a mau that cast seed into
the earth, aud Avho rose night and day, but the seed grew up he knew
not how (Mark iv. 26). These two statements of our Lord, taken
together, describe regeneration as an iiiAvard and an outAvork work ;
the blowing of the wind describing the inward operation of the Spirit,
and the groAving of the seed describing the outward operation of the
Word. In both cases the idea presented to us, and intended to be im
pressed upon our minds, is this ; that regeneration, both as an iuAvard
and an outward work, is of the will and poAver of God, and not of
man. Human poAver cannot produce a blade of grass. Growth is the

Chap. IIL] ST. JOHN. 71
effect of hfe, and life is an attribute of God. Yet man not only can,
but must, become a Avorker together with God, before any beneficial
change can be Avrought in him. He must cultivate the ground and
sow the seed and Avater the plants ; and this forms his part of the
work. But here his power and agency end. He may bestow aU the
care and labour required of him, rising night and day, but in the pro
cess of growth he can do nothing ; the corn grows up he knoweth not
hoAV. This truth, laid down by divine Avisdom, is of the utmost im
portance, aud therefore it is most deshable that it should be under
stood. It slioAvs us what we can do and what we cannot do ; it teUs
us Avhere human agency ends and where the divine agency begins. It
teaches us that we owe the Avhole of our regeneration to the Lord's
power, though it requires us to co-operate with him in the great work.
AU that is required of us is to do what we are commanded to do, to
le'am the truth and to obey it, by resisting evU and doing good ; since
Avithout these outward uses, it is as impossible for us to be regenerated
as it is for the soil to produce its harvest without the labour of the
husbandman, in tiUing and soAving, and aU the other labours that de
volve upon him. Thus, therefore, man sows the seed ; God gives the
harvest. So, also, every one who is born of the Spirit must co-operate
Avith the Spirit. The inward operation of the Spirit is like the blowing
of the Avind. We hear its sound, but Ave see it not. It affects the
wUl, but is not perceived by the understanding. Influx is into the
wUl, and through the wiU into the understanding. The saving opera
tion of the Sphit comes to us as something that is heartfelt, as heartfelt
peace, a peace which passeth all understanding, because it comes into
the understanding as thoughts of peace and goodAviU, divinely breathed
into the mind, without our knowing whence they come or whither they
go. It is enough for us to learn and do our duty to God and to man ;
and if Ave faithfuUy do the outAvard work, the Lord Avill conduct and
perform the inward operation. These outAvard duties are all that are
requhed of us. Our agency extends no further. But if Ave perform
the outward duties, the Lord accomplishes the inward work. It is
remarkable, therefore, that in describing the iuAvard operation of the
Sphit, by Avhich the regeneration of the heart is expressed, there is
nothing said of man's agency; but in describing the regeneration of
the life, human agency is introduced : man has nothing to do with the
blowing of the wind, but he has arduous and anxious duties to per
form with respect to the growing of the seed. That is Avisely and
luercifuUy concealed from us. If Ave knew all the mysteries, and were
conscious of the process, of our own regeneration, Ave should interfere

72 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IIL
Avith the order anl tenor of its progression, and so defeat the Lord's pur
pose to make us new creatures. So it is Avith every one who is bom of
the Spirit.
This work of spiritual life in the soul, as carried on by the Lord
alone during our co-operation, may be compared to the operation of
natural hfe in the body, as carried on by a similar economy. The
heart and the other internal organs do their Avork spontaneously, in
obedience to the AviU or laAvs of the Creator, independently of our wUl,
and even Avithout our consciousness. Yet we must needs co-operate, in
order that their action, especially tlieir healthy action, may be kept up.
We must, by labour, provide ourselves Avith food and clothing and
shelter, and attend to the other conditions of life and health, or the
motion of the vital organs AviU languish and finaUy cease. So is it
Avith the soul. God is the Author of sphitual life and of aU that be
longs to it, aU its vital operations ; Ave have to use the means wMch
he has appointed for its preservation, and these are the conditions on
which we enjoy the blessing of spiritual and eternal hfe.
9, 10. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things
he ? It is not surprising that one Avho heard those things for the fhst time
should be at some loss to comprehend them. But this mixture of
wonder and unbelief is characteristic of the natural man, even when
he is in an affirmative state of mind, on his first learning the nature
aud necessity of regeneration. A stupendous Avork is regeneration, and
to man a marveUous one. In that subhme Psalm (cxxxix.), Avhere the
second birth is treated of under the figure of the first, the impres
sion it has on the devout mind is stated in strong terms — " I wUl
praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made : marveUous
are thy works, and that my soul knoAveth right well. My substance
was not hid from thee when I Avas made in secret, and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my
substance, being yet unperfect ; and in thy book all my members Avere
written, Avhich in continuance were fashioned, Avhen as yet there Avas
none of them." True as this is in the natural sense, it is not the less
true m the spiritual ; for the re-creation of the soul for heaven is at
least as great and marvellous a work as the creation of the body
for the world. Nicodemus ought to have known something of the
'nature of this work. Therefore, Jesus answered and said uido him,
-Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Some sup
pose that our Lord here aUuded to the then prevailing mode of calling
initiation into the mysteries of a science, or inauguration into an
office, a noAV birth. It is more reasonable to believe that the Lord

Chap. IIL] ST. JOHN. ,¦3
alluded to the idea as taught, not only in the Psalm already quoted,
but throughout the Old Testament generally. Thus in Isai.ah, " Zion
travailed, she brought forth her chUdren. Rejoice Avith Jerusalem,
that ye may suck and be satisfied Avitli the breasts of her consolations ;
that ye may ndlk out, and be delighted Avith the abundance of her
glory" (Ixvi. 8). In such language as this, had the Lord instructed his
people in the knowledge of regeneration. But the Jews had little
apprehension of anything spiritual. And even a master in Israel, Avho
showed an earnest desire to be introduced into the knoAAdedge of Christ's
kingdom, kneAv, it would appear, nothing of the things that Jesus
taught respecting one of its most .essential truths.
11. The Lord further says to him. We speuk that we do know, and
testify that ice have seen ; and ye receive not our witness. .Jesus knew
and saAV aU things ; and so far as his speech ami testimony Avere
concerned, his teaching should be received as indisputable truth. The
Lord speaks as if he Avere not the only one who possessed the knoAv-
ledge AvMch he was Avilling to communicate to Nicodemus ; he says,
we speak. In the sphitual sense, this has relation to the tAvofold
testimony of his love and wisdom. But Avhat the Lord says of Mmself,
he says also of his Word, and the Word speaks to us both in the spirit
and inthe letter, both in truths of love and truths of wisdom, designed
to beget in us both charity and faith. This duality runs through the
Lord's declaration ; he speaks and testifies, he knoAvs and sees ; for to
speak what he knows has relation to his loA^e, and to testify Avhat he
has seen has relation to his wisdom. And those AA'ho do not receive
the witness of these, are such as have as yet no real spiritu.il affection
for the good or love which the Word teaches, and no internal percep
tion of its truth, in relation to the work of regeneration.
12. Nicodemus being stiU in amazement and doubt, the Lord
addresses him iu these words : If I have told you earthly things, and
ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things.
The Lord had told him heaveMy things after an earthly manner,
teaching him spiritual traths by natural images. If he believed not
the teaching of heavenly truth, when , accommodated to his natural
apprehension, by being clothed in natural images ; hoAv would he have
believed, if it had been addressed to him unclothed and unaccommo
dated ? If heavenly beings cannot be seen by the natural eye, neither
can heavenly things be perceived by the natural understanding. Our
first conceptions are natural, therefore unless spiritual truth came to
us clothed in a natural vesture, it would come to us, and be regarded
by us, as a phantom : and instead of administering comfort, it would

74 ST. JOHN. [Chap. III.
create alarm ; as the Lord's presence did to the disciples, even when they
stood most in need of his aid, when they thought they saw a spirit.
13. The Lord now imparts the secret of all reception and rejection
of the truth, in these mysterious words. And no mun liutli ascended up
to heaven, hut he thut cume down from heaven, even the Son of man
which is in heaven. This declaration has no very obvious connection
Avith the Lord's previous teaching, if understood in the orchnary
meaning of human language. But it will be seen to have an intimate
oonnection Avith the subject, if Ave regard it in its sphitual sense. In
the first place, it teaches us, that the Son of man, as a title of Jesus, is
not limited to his natural humanity. This did not come down from
heaven, and Avas not then in heaven. If we could suppose that the
Lord spoke of Mmself personally, without any reference to the distinc
tion betAveen the divine and human nature, his words would present
no difficulty, since he, as God manifest in the flesh, Avas in heaven,
aud far above all heaA'ens, at the same time that he Avas upon earth.
But this is not the case. An accurate distinction is always made
between the Son of God and the Son of Man. The Lord caUs
himself the Son of God Avlien he speaks of his divme humaMty,
and he caUs himself the Son of Man as divine truth or the ,Word.
No one ascends up to heaven but by means of diAune truth, and all
divine truth comes from heaven, and is in heaven. We have nothing
in ourselves that can raise us up into heaven. There is nothing we
can acquire from the Avorld that can raise us up into heaven. What
ever is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth. Nothing
can ascend up into heaven but what has first come down from heaven.
This was true of the Lord especially by virtue of the Incarnation. As
the Son of man he was in heaven ; for the divine truth in heaven was
his humanity before he came into the world by incarnation. Divine
truth in heaven came down to earth, that it might raise men from
earth to heaveu. And this it provided for by ascending Avhere it was
before. Of this our Lord speaks in Avhat uoav foUows.
14, 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. Most commentators are of opinion,
that, not the serpent itself, but only the lifting of it up, was typical.
Why, in the case of rebellious Israel, did God command that the
serpent should be the instrument both of their punishment and their
cure ? No doubt because the serpent was emblematical, in the one
case, of the means of destruction, in the other, of the means of sal
vation. The brazen serpent was a type of Jesus, as the Saviour of those

Chap. III.] ST. JOHN. 75
whose fall had been effected by the serpent ; and the lifting up of the
serpent is intended to describe the elevation of that principle of human
nature, represented by the serpent, Avhich had become degraded by
man's faU. The curse pronounced upon the serpent for deceiving Eve
Avas, that it should walk on its belly and eat dust. It is almost self-
CAident that this has another than a natural meaning. Did the serpent,
before the fall, Avalk erect ? after the fall did it eat dust ? Inapplicable
to the aMuial, the " curse " is exceedingly appropriate when understood
to refer to the sensuous part of man's nature, of which the serpent is
the emblem. The sensuous principle is cognizant of, and affected by,
eartMy things, and, hi itself, has a downward tendency. It is the
design of the Creator in regard to man, that reason should control sense,
and elevate it above the love of earthly things. Such Avas man's
original state, Avhen God gave him dominion over the VA'hole animal
creation, that is, over his Avliole animal nature ; and Avhen he, and aU
creatures under Ms dominion, the serpent included, Avere pronounced
" very good," and were " blessed." All in man is good and blessed,
when the rational rules the sensual, or the spiritual the natural ; aU in
man is cursed, Avhen the sensual rules the rational, or the natural the
spiritual. When, instead of the rational elevating the sensual, the
sensual draws down the rational, man falls from his high estate. In
stead of sense being subservient to reason, reason becomes subser\ient
to sense ; the animal obtains dominion over the man ; and he who bore
the image of God becomes " earthly, sensual, devilish." If man's
faU consisted in his sensual nature obtaining dominion over the rational,
Ms restoration must consist iu Ms rational nature obtaining dommion
over the sensual. The promise given to Eve Avas, that her seed should
bruise the serpent's head, a promise that the Lord Avould deprive the
sensual nature of man of the dominion it had acquired by the faU
over the rational. The Lord first accomplished this great Avork in
himself The humanity he assumed from Mary, which Avas literally
the seed of the Avoman, had in it every principle of human nature ;
and, in its hereditary state, aU existed in it in that state of inverted
order which was characteristic of faUeu man. Among those principles
of humanity there Avas the sensual principle, prone to the earth, as it
had become through the faU. It was a part of the Lord's divine work
to raise that principle of human nature from the state of degradation into
wMch it had faUen, aud to glorify it, and thus elevate it mto union with
his aU-conquering diviMty. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the
AvUderness, even so was the Son of man lifted up ; and for the same benefi
cent purpose, that those who have been bittenby the fieryflying serpent of

76 ST. JOHN. [Chap. III.
the lusts ofthe flesh and the pride of life, may, by looking in faith to him,
be delivered from the deadly effects of the poison Avhich has entered into
their soul ; that they may not perish, but have everlasting life. The sen
suous principle glorified, or the divine natural, is that by which the Lord
has immediate connection and communication with, and influx into, the
sensual principle of man, so as to deliver it from death, and raise it into
conjunction with the rational. This principle in the Lord is also that by
AvMch he exercises divine circumspection over heaven and the church,
and over every individual of the human race. For in him exists, in its
infinite perfection, that union of the spiritual and the natural, which he
enjoined on his disciples, when he said, on sending them forth into the
Avorld as his ambassadors, " Be ye therefore wise as serpents and haiinless
as doves " (Matt. x. 16). The serpent in him is the divine natural, and
the dove is the divine spiritual, like the dove that descended upon him
at his baptism.
The object of the Lord's being lifted up was, that whosoever believeth
in him shoidd not perish, but have everlasting life. The Lord expresses
this same truth on another occasion by saying, " And I, if I be hfted
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me " (chap. xii. 32). The
Lord, having lifted up his own humanity by glorification, has the
power, of elevating men, and drawing them to himself. Men derive
from the Lord's elevation the power of being elevated. This elevation
is effected through faith. Belief in the Lord as our Saviour is not so
much a condition, as a means, through Avhich his saving poAver acts
upon us. We are not saved on account of our belief, but through it.
Salvation is not the reward, but the result, of faith. Aud this salvation
is freely offered to aU. Whosoever believeth shall have everlasting-
life. This is a blessed truth. It Avould be a terrible thought, that
God is able, but not willing, to save all men. This Avould be to vindi
cate his poAver at the expense of his goodness. If all are not saved, it
is because men will not come unto him that they might have life.
16. The reason of the freeness of the gospel is given in the clearest
language. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, hut have ever
lasting life. A blessed truth is this, and precious the gift which it
declares. God's love is the origin of man's redemption. To the love
of God the world owes all that forms the foundation of its hopes for
the progressive advancement of the race in true virtue antl hapjiiness
on earth, and of salvation as the means of felicity in heaven. And
yf.t how could it be otherwise? God is love; and his tender mercies
are over aU Ms works. And what God is, and what he feels, he is and

Chap. IIL] ST. JOHN. 77
feels invariably and eternaUy. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and
forever. He changes not, therefore Ave are not consumed ; he marks
not iniquity, else who could stand ? his compassions fail not, else hoAv
could we hope ? But the truth, that the world OAves its redemption
to God's love, if it need not excite our astonishment, has everything
hi it to call forth our gratitude. For the Avoiid, Avhich God so loved
that he gave his only begotten to redeem and saA^e it, was in a state
of enmity and rebellion against him, as every one is that comes mto
the world. " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins"
(1 John iv. 10). " But God commendeth his love towards us, in
that whUe we Avere yet sinners Christ died for us" (Rom. v. 8). In
the means by which the purposes of love Avere to be Avrought out there
was nothing inconsistent Avith the pure wisdom of God. On the contrary,
infinite love ever works out its purposes by infinite Avisdom ; and a
true knowledge of the nature of redemption oMy tends to exalt our
ideas of the perfection both of the wisdom and the love of God. The
freeness of the salvation off'ered to us by this manifestation of the
Lord's love is given in the assurance, that whosoever beheveth on the
Son should not perish but have everlasting life. The Son is the
divine humaMty ; and God in his humanity is the Object of CMistian
faith, and the Author of eternal life. It is said by an apostle that he
that hath the Son hath life (1 John v. 12). Faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, as the Son in whom is the Father, ns the Divine Wisdom in
Avhom is the Divine Love, as the Humanity in which is the Divinity, is
the means of salvation; hence belief iu him leads to conjunction with
him, and in tMs conj unction Ave have eternal life.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world, to condemn the world,
hut that the world through him might be saved. The Word, or the
divine truth, may be said to exercise the two distinct functions of a
judge and of a Saviour. Divine truth judges, because it lays open
the states of all, being sharper than a two-edged sword, and is the
two-edged SAvord that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Son of Man
(Rev. i. 16). But as a judge, or an instrument of judgment, truth
condemns those only who resist it. It is truth separate from love that
pronounces the judgment of condemnation. But this separation is not
effected by the Lord, but by man. It is only those who " hold the
truth in unrighteousness" Avho are judged by it. But it is not the AviU
of God that his divine truth should in any case judge men to con
demnation. God's truth, as it proceeds from him, is united with Ms
love ; and it ever comes from him on a mission of love, for the jiur-

78 ST. JOHN. [Chap. III.
pose of dehvering men from sin and death. Therefore, God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the Avorld. Redemption was eminently a
work of love. When God sent forth his truth, as the Word made flesh,
his divine purpose Avas, that the Avorld through his eternal truth, thus
manifested, might be saved. Divme truth eff'ected redemption by one
great act of judgment ; but this Avas an act by Avhich the prince of this
Avorld was judged. The poAvers of darkness were overcome by the poAver
of divine truth. But even in their case, the Lord did not deviate from
his own laws of order, or from his OAvn beneficent purpose. It is be
cause the spirits of darkness have shut the divine love out from theh
hearts, and rebel against the laAvs of truth, that the truth becomes to
them an instrument of judgment and condemnation.
18. But although it is the Lord's purpose to save, this does not pre
vent man from bringing condemnation on himself. He that believeth
on him is not condemned : hut he that believeth not is condemned al
ready, because he hath not helieved in the name of the only begotten
Son of God. We learn from this that condemnation is not a divine
act, but a human state. He that believeth not is in a state of -con
demnation. On the the same principle, he that believes is in a state of
justification and salvation. We are so accustomed to think unreflect
ingly of the justice and judgment of God from those of men, that we
represent to ourselves the divine Being as making and administering
laAvs to impose his own Avill on his creatures, and to vindicate his own
authority. But the divine justice is but another expression for immut
able divine order ; and God's laAv is but another expression for the law of
divine order. These are, indeed, of the divine wUl and wisdom ; but
the divine will and wisdom can have no vicAv in anything they do or
require, but the Avelfare and happiness of mankind. The condemna
tion, therefore, that results from unbelief or disobedience, is simply
and purely the state which man acquires by opposhig those laAvs which
were given for his happiness.
19. The ground of this condemnation our Lord explains. And thi.'>
is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Light con
demns those Avho have the hght, and yet love the darkness rather than
the light. It is a truth plainly revealed in Scripture, that Avhere
there is no law there is no transgression ; and that the degree of guilt
is exactly proportionate to the degrees of light which Ave possess.
Light is given, not to condemn, but to guide and direct us. But that
Avhich is given for use is ahvays liable to abuse. Did not tMs
possibility exist, there Avould be no choice, and therefore no vhtue.

Chap. III.] ST. JOHN. 79
Ignorance implies the absance of respoiisibUity, but it implies also the
absence of improvement. Light is necessary for our advancement, and
if we faithfuUy use it, it will enable us to progress in virtue and
happiness. Light is therefore an inestimable blessing. But it may
also become a great curse, as every blessing becomes when it is abused
and perverted, or even when it is neglected or contemned. That very
light, therefore, which came into the world in the person of him Avho
was the Light itself, AvhUe it is the means of our highest improvement,
may become also the means of our deepest condemnation. Not indeed
that light condemns, but that those who love the darkness and hate the
light, form and confirm in themselves a state of evil, more malignant in
proportion to the clearness of the light against which they have
smned. 20. The reason of this state of condemnation is given. For every
one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved. Evil and truth are incompatible with
each other ; no one can be in love with both at the same time. It is
possible, indeed, for men to know the truth, and yet to be in evil ;
but to know the truth and to love it are two distinct things. Men
may even make a profession of faith in the truth, and at the same
time hate and despise it in their hearts ; and if they had no object in
making a profession of faith, they Avould despise and contemn it
openly. And if evU men do not act thus in the natural world, they
do so Avhen they come into the spiritual world, Avhere there is no
concealment, and therefore no motive for hypocritical belief John
here says that the evil come not to the light, lest theh deeds should be
reproved. Literally men hate the light when it condemns their
conduct. But, in the spiritual sense, we are instructed that the evU do
not come to the Hght, because they have no desire that their evils may
be laid open, or made manifest to themselves in order that they may
be removed. The Lord reproves that he may convince, and by con
vincing, lead men to amendment of lUe. The evil refuse reproof,,
because they have no desire of amendment.
21. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that Ms deeds may
he made manifest, that they are wrought in God. The natural sense of
this is easUy understood. He who acts uprightly acts opeMy, that the
character of his deeds may testify of their origin. The spiritual sense
teaches a stUl more specific lesson. Truth is one thing, the light of
truth is another. Truth comes from without, light comes from
Avithin ; truth comes from the Holy Word, light comes from the Holy
Sphit. Obedience to the truth, as taught in the Scriptures, opens the

80 ST. JOHN. [Chap. III.
mind to the reception of the light of truth, wMch is, indeed, present in
every mind, but which enlightens none but those who learn and obey
the truth as they possess it in the Word. This same important lesson
is taught in other parts of Scripture. "A good understanding have aU
fcheythat do his commandments" (Psa. cxi. 10). "He thtit doeth the wUl
ofthe Father, shall know ofthe doctrine whether it be of God" (John
vii. 17). In a certain sense knowledge is light, but it is only the hght
of the natural understanding. Spiritual light, which is the light of
spiritual discernment, comes only tMough goodness, and this is oMy
acquired by knoAvledge applied to the uses of life. Not truth alone,
but the good of truth, is that which forms the channel tMough Avhich
the hght of life is received. Another point may be mentioned in
connection with this subject. Those who do good from obedience
without intelligence, do it without discrimination ; and good done
Avithout discrimination is natural, not spiritual, charity. It is most
desirable that Ave seek to come to the light, for it is the light that
makes manifest that our works are Avrought in God.
22. After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of
Judea ; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. Jesus having
purified the temple, as the symbol of his coming glorification, and
instructed Nicodemus as to the necessity and nature of regeneration, as
its effect and image, he uoav comes into Judea to dispense baptism, as
the sign and the means of his saving work. This is the first time we
read of the baptism of Jesus and of its distinction from that of John.
It is caUed the baptism of Jesus, not because the rite was performed
by him personally (for Jesus Mmself baptized not, but his disciples),
but because it represented a more interior and complete work than the
baptism of John. John's baptism represented the purification of the
outward man, the Lord's baptism represented tbe purification of the
inward man. Baptism, as uoav administered in the chtu'ch, is a
symbol both of inward and outAvard purification, and thus combines
the meaning and the use both of the baptism of John and of
Jesus. It is reasonable to suppose, that as John's baptism Avas
intended to prepare men for receiving the Lord as the Messiah, it
would represent a Avork preparatory to that Avhich the Messiah him
self should perform. A clear distinction Avas made by the apostles,
after the Lord's ascension, betAveen these two baptisms, insomuch that
persons who received John's baptism were rebaptized in the name of
Jesus Christ, by which they acquhed the fuU benefits of disciplesMp,
in the reception of the Holy Spirit (Acts xix. 3-5). In accordance
with the different uses and meanings of these two baptisms, John first

Chap. 111.] ST. JOHN. 81
baptized out of the land of Palestine, on the other side Jordan, whUe
the baptism of Jesus, so far as the Word informs us, was commenced
in Judea, in order that they might represent respectively outward and
inward purification.
23. But John was also baptizing in .^non, near to Salim, because
there was much water there; und they came, and were baptized.
These two places are intended to describe something connected with
the nature of John's baptism, as distinguished from that of Jesus.
,^non, which literally means eyes, is the figurative name for springs or
fountains of Avater ; and Salim literaUy signifies peace. The name of
the spring is derived from the resemblance there is between waters
bursting and flowing from the ground, and tears gushing forth from
the eyes. And what can be more expressive of the baptism of repent
ance, which John administered ? Penitential tears are the Avaters that
spring from the fountain of a broken and contrite heart, and are signs
of the inner Avorking of the Sphit of truth that convinces the conscience
of sill. This is a hopeful state. It is not itself a state of peace, but
it is near to it, as .^Enon Avas to Salim. A night of weeping is foUowed
by a morning of joy. John baptized in ^Enon, because there was much
water there, literally many Avaters. Many truths, meant by the many
Avaters, are necessary for the work of purification. The more numerous
the truths possessed by the church, the more ample may be her
instruction, the more complete may be the purification of her members.
.iEnon and its waters would seem to indicate an advance, even an
advance in the baptism of John. iEnon was ou the west of Jordan,
and thus withm the land of Canaan ; and the waters Avere not those of
the Jordan, but of springs. The waters of a spring or fountain are
Avhat are caUed in scripture Uving waters, Avliich are emblematical of
truths in a state of active operation, as they come from the thoughts,
and are applied to the uses of life. It appears that John attracted
many to his baptism in JEnon : they came and were baptized. The
more abundant and active the truths of the church are, the more may
she attract the earnest and truth-seeking, by her teacMng, to enter into
her commuMon, and make them -worthy members of her body, and fit
subjects of the Lord's kingdom.
24. There is a season when this drawing of the mind to the Word,
and to the reception of its purifying truths, can be better effected, and
that is, when John is not yet cast into prison. The casting of John
into prison represents a state in the regenerating life common to aU the
true members of the church. It is a time and state of temptation,
which foUows the sincere reception of heaveiUy truth. The first in-
F

82 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IIL
troduction of truth into the mind is attended with a state of delight,
for it imparts a sense of freedom, especially of inteUectual freedom from
unbelief and doubt ; but a state succeeds this, Avhen the new truth
becomes itself a subject of doubt, suggestions of error and evU rising
up against its authority. TMs is the transition period, between the
first and second baptism, when John is cast into prison. It is the evU
in our nature that lies at the foundation of this tribulation. One of
the trials of the faitMM is thus described in the Revelation — '•' Be
hold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried :
be thou faithful unto death, and I wUl give thee a crown of hfe"
(Rev. ii. 10). Imprisomnent and death were the fate of John; and
his faithfulness secured for him a crown of life. But that AvMch
John literaUy underwent is what every true disciple sphitually en
dures ; and Avhat, abstractly considered, the hteral truth experiences in
the mind of every true disciple, who passes from the letter to the
spirit of the law. But before John is cast into prison is the time to
come to him to be baptized. We have said that baptism signifies re
pentance and also temptation. Truth lays us open to temptation, and
truth defends us in it. Truth brings our evils to light, and truth is
the mstrument by Avhich we conquer them. The Lord provides that
Ave shaU be armed against the day of conflict, by giAing us truth suited
to our state and necessities.
25. WhUe John was yet at liberty, there arose a question between some
of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. This indicates the
beginning of that state of temptation, represented by John's imprison
ment. Intellectual debate and disputation are the beginning of sor
rows, and generally lead to deeper evils and severer trials, both in the
church and in the individual mind. The question that arose was
about purifymg. The next verse reveals the nature of this contro
versy ; the present informs us that the question was between some of
John's (hsciples and a Jcav (as the text should read). This is the
fhst recorded dispute between Judaism and ChristiaMty. As we are
aU under the law before Ave are under the gospel, such a chspute
takes place in every regenerate mmd. The Jew is but the type of the
Jewish element or principle in our OAvn minds, AvhUe the disciples of
John are the first principles of our early Christianity ; and the fhst
confhct betAveen these is on the subject of pui'Uying, for actual puri
fication forms the boundary line between the old and the new, and that
through Avhich we pass from the one to the other.
26. This question leads to another. And they came unto John, and
mid unto him,. Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom

Chap. III.] ST. JOHN. 83
thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to
him. The question about purifying resulted in one respecting the
authority of Jesus to baptize, and the comparative importance of his
baptism and that of John. The disciples of John seem to have felt
some jealousy Avhen they saw Jesus, by his disciples, assuming the
functions of their master. Its spiritual meaning is that which most
concerns us ; and this discloses the origin and nature of the implied
complaint against Jesus for baptizing. In all minds there is a time
Avhen the testimony of the letter of the Word conflicts with the teach
ing of its spirit, in regard to the higher baptism of Jesus, Avhich con
sists in the purification of the motives of the heart. The purification
of the motives is a higher baptism than the purification of the
actions. The lower necessarily comes before the higher, and pre
pares the way for it. A child must be taught to act rightly before
he can be taught to think Avisely. So with the chUcl of God. He
must cease to do evil before he can cease to intend and love
evU. The first is the water baptism of John, the second is the
water baptism of Jesus. The Lord's baptism with the Holy Sphit
and with fhe is a higher baptism still ; and consists in giving new
thoughts and new motives, after the old have been put aAvay. Yet,
although it is according to the law of order and progress, that the
higher should succeed the lower, there is always some conflict in
passing from the one to the other, because there is always some de
gree of repugnance felt by the less in yielding submission to the
greater. This repugnance is countenanced and supported by mistaken
views on the subject of order, and the purpose of that purification
of which we have been the subjects or the instruments. But when
Ave go to the Word itself, as these dissatisfied disciples went to John,
by whom the revealed Word was represented, the truth Avill be brought
to our understandings, and wiU teach us how we ought to think
and act.
27. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be
given him from heaven. Every good and every perfect gift cometh
from the Father of Lights. God is the author of every blessing we
enjoy, whether for the body or the soul. Life is his gift, therefore all
that pertains to hfe, the faculties of the wiU and understanding, and all
theh affections and thoughts, with every good which is the object of
affection, and every truth which is the object of thought ; all are given
us from heaven. There is none good but one, that is God ; and he
alone filleth the hungry soul with good Such is the truth uttered by
the Baptist. But what was its apphcation in reference to tbe question

84 ST. JOHN. [Chap. III.
of his disciples ? It was, that the baptism of Jesus, and his authority
to baptize, were from heaven ; and that, therefore, his baptism was a
divine institution.
28. But John not only established the heavenly origin of the Lord's
baptism, and his divine authority to perform it, but he placed it above
his own, as he placed the Messiah above himself. Ye yourselves bear
me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, hut that I am sent before
him. We are all like the disciples of John, liable to take the means
for the end, and to regard that as final, AvMoh is only introductory.
" Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth" (Rom. x. 4). AU rites and ceremonies, aU prophets and
priests, yea, all revelation, point to him as that One in whom they
received their fMfilment, and in Avhom all things are perfected. John
comes to prepare the way of the Lord ; and this is stUl the testimony
and function of the written Word, in respect to him who is the Word
itself, the light and life of men.
29 John further says respecting Jesus, He that hath the bride is
the bridegroom : hut the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and
heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because ofthe bridegroom's voice. Tliis
my joy therefwe is fulfilled. He who is the bridegroom and husband
of the church stands in the highest possible relation to the whole body
of the faithful. In the Old Testament these titles are claimed by
Jehovah as his OAvn ; and it is oMy because Jesus was the manifested
Jehovah that the title of bridegroom could be justly applied to him.
The bridegroom is he that hath the bride ; the church, therefore, is the
Lord's church, and she can acknowledge none but him. John, the
greatest of prophets, claimed no higher rank than that of being the
friend of the bridegroom. He rejoiced greatly because of the bride
groom's voice, and considered the public manifestation of Jesus as the
fMfilment of his joy. In this he also described the relation which the
written Word bears to the Lord as the Word incarnate. Eminently,
.the revealed Word was and is the bridegroom, for it is tMouo-b the
Word that we hear him, and it is by the heartfelt reception of its
truths that Ave rejoice greatly because of his voice, Avliich is expressive
.of the affection in Avhich Ms truth is received. John's joy was
fulfilled in the Lord's marriage Avith his church, for this marriage is
the very end for which revelation exists. This is the fulfilment of
fiphitual joy, for truth is full of joy Avhen it is fuU of goodness. It is
hardly necessary to say that in speaking of the Lord's niarriao-e -with
the church, the union of love and truth iu the mind is included m its
Bignification ; for here oM.y, indeed, does the heavenly marriao-e exist.

Chap. IIL] ST. JOHN. 85
30. John representing the revealed Word, and Jesus being the
manifested Word, John represents the truths Avhich we derive from
the written Word by an external way, while Jesus is the truth we
receive from him by an internal way. John therefore says of Jesus,
He must increase, hut I must decrease. We are not to understand
from this, that the iuAvard testimony of the Spirit wUl ever supersede
the outAvard testimony of the Word; or that the authority of the written
Word wUl decrease, as the influence of the eternal Word increases.
It describes a change of state that takes place in the regenerate mind,
and which belongs to all spiritual progression. It is otherwise
expressed by the Lord, when he says, the first shall be last, and the
last first. In the first stage of the regenerate life, called reformation,
which John's teaching and baptism represented, truth is in the first
place, and gooii is in the second ; thus external things are first, and
internal things are last. In the second stage of the new life, called
regeneration, which the Lord's work especiaUy represented, good is in
the first place, and truth is in the second, internal things are first, and
external things are last. Thus, as regeneration advances, the influ
ence and authority of good increase, and those of truth decrease ;
external things that riUod give way to the government of internal
things, and become more and more subservient to those higher ends,
Avhich the Lord inspires into the mind. This inversion of state, which
rmght seem to involve the degradation of those external truths which
Avere once primary, is in reality their true honour and exaltation. For
divine order, which has made ministry and service the true state of
the external man, has also made them his true joy.
31. John further says of the Lord and of himself. He that cometh
from above is above all : he that is of the eai'th is earthly, und speuketh
of the eai'th : he that cometh from heaven is above all. Again the
Baptist bears testimony to the Lord's supremacy. He who is above all,
above angels and men, is God. There is no degree of existence or
being between the infinite and the finite, the uncreated and the created.
He who is above aU, is himself all in aU. But to come to its more
specific meaning, in relation to the subject of comparison between the
Lord and John. Whether we regard John's statement relating to the
Word as it is in itself, or as it is in us, it is equally expressive. In
ternally and essentially, the truth of the Word is the Lord from heaven,
and is above all human truth; exterually, it is of the earth, earthly,
and speaketh of the earth. In descending from heaven, divme truth
clothed itself with an earthly garment ; the Avisdom of God, as revealed
iu the Scriptures, is not only expressed in the language of men, but it

.86 ST. JOHN. [Cuap. IIL
.treats, to a considerable extent, of earthly things. The letter of the
Word, which is thus of the earth, speaketh of the earth j and this is
more especiaUy true of the Old Testament, the only part of the written
Word Avhich actually existed in the time of John. Much of it
consists of the temporal history of a carnally-minded people, and it
treats much of their temporal concerns. But the internal of the Word
is from heaven, and treats of heavenly things. The Lord is the divine
truth itself, and is above all truth which comes to the apprehension
either of angels or men. And as in the language of revelation, " above''
spiritually means "within;" that which is highest is inmost; and he who
is above all is within all. In the practical application of the Baptist's
words, heaven and earth are the spiritual and natural degrees of the
mind. Truth from the Word is first received into the natural mind,
Avhere, hoAvever spiritual in itself, it is naturally apprehended and loved ;
and, therefore, so far as regards us, it is of the earth, eartMy, and
speaketh of the earth. But when truth has once been raised into the
spiritual mind, and descends again into the natural, it is heaveMy, and
indeed is the Lord from heaven, making even our natural thoughts
and our Avhole natural life spiritual.
32. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth ; and no
man receivefh his testimony. Jesus is here said to testify what he had
seen and heard. We cannot consistently think of one divine person
seeing what another does, and hearing Avhat he says, and then re
vealing it to others. The general idea intended to be conveyed by
such language is this, that Jesus, unlike all other beings, angelic and
human, was in immediate and intimate relation Avith God ; Avhich is the
same thing as saying, that God was in Jesus, and spoke by Mm. No
one hath seen God at any time, nor heard his voice ; the Son only hath
had this privUege. It is only therefore by and in the Son that we can
see and hear the Father — it is only infinite wisdom that can com
prehend and reveal infinite love ; only a divine Humanity that can
receive and manifest essential Divinity. There is, however, a special
meaning in the Baptist's language. Jesus is said both to see and to
hear the things of God. To see is to understand, to hear is to AviU.
But, in reference to the Lord, seeing and hearing have a stiU higher
meaning. The divine understanding bemg mfinite wisdom, and the
divine wiU behig infinite love, the Lord seeing and hearing the Father
means that his humanity receives mto itself the love and Avisdom of his
indwellmg divinity, and communicates them to men, accommodated to
their feeble apprehensions. But this testification of the divme humanity
no one reeeiveth. This does not mean that his testunony Avas absolutely

Chap. IIL] STv JOHN. 87
and universaUy rejected ; but that the church, as a church, rejected the
testimony of the truth against herself.
33. Yet not the whole church rejects the truth. However corrupt
a church may become, however completely devastated it may be, a
germ is preserved, to form the beginning of a new dispensation.
Therefore John speaks of some who had received. And he that
hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
Those who receive his testimony are the remnant, out of which the
New Church and the new man are formed. And he who receives, sets
to Ms seal that God is true. Sealing is confirming. He Avho receives
the testimony of Jesus, hath the witness in himself (1 John v. 10) ; he
who truly receives Christ, receives God in Christ. Jesus is said to be
the faitMtU and true Avitness (Rca'. iii. 14). The truth bears witness
to itself ; it has the inherent poAver of bringing conviction to the mind ;
for it carries its own evidence within it. Jesus, as the light, is the only
Avitness to the hght, and the highest and oMy real testimony of the
Ught, is the iUumination AvMch it gives to the mind that receives it.
34. This is further taught in the declaration. For he whom God hath
sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit hy
measure unto Mm. Jesus is said to be sent of God, but not in the
sense of being divinely commissioned, as John the Baptist was. He
is sent of God, as havmg, according to his own testimony, proceeded
forth and come from God. Yet proceeding cannot be understood in
the sense of departing, Avhioh is inconsistent with the nature of an
omMpresent being. Jesus proceeded from God, as infinite wisdom
proceeds from infinite love. As love and wisdom in God are in
separable, the coming forth of wisdom from love is the manifestation
and revelation of love by wisdom. Such being the true idea of
Jesus bemg sent of God, he could not but speak the words of God.
Nor are the Lord's words the expressions of wisdom alone, but of love
and goodness. Jesus speaks the words of God, because God giveth
not the Spirit hy measure unto him. Without measure is infinite.
True, it is said, that the Sphit was given unto him infinitely. Here,
agam, we must not be misled by the forms of human language, in
wMoh divme truths are expressed. The giving of the Spirit, hke the
sending of the Son, .must be understood consistently with the nature
of the Being of whom it is spoken. The Spirit of love is given to
wisdom, as the Spirit of human affection is given to human thought.
But it is also and more especiaUy to be understood of the communica
tion of aU the Lord's divinity to his humanity. And this may be
illustrated by the circumstance, that aU the life and powers of fhe

88 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IIL
human soul are given to the body ; since the soul ammates the body
and acts and speaks by it as its own organic form. The soul does
not divest itself of the life and power which it imparts to the body.
It is rather enriched than impoverished by what it gives, since its
power and influence are rather extended than limited by its connec
tion with the body. So far as the infinite can be explained by the
finite, these human similitudes enable us to see the corresponding
truths that relate to the divine nature.
35. The words that now address themselves tousare entirelyconsistent
with the truth we have been considering. The Father loveth the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand. Here once more we have a
divine truth expressed in accordance -with human ideas. Can we sup
pose that the Son was an object of the Father's love, as a human son
is of a human father's ? Such an idea is quite inconsistent with every
sound notion we can form of diviMty. The Son was the subject, not
merely the object, of the Father's love ; the divme love was in Mm,
and not merely directed to him. So the Father was in the Son, the
divinity was in the humanity. In agreement Avith this, we read, m
continuation, that the Father hath given all things into the Son's
hand. The Father gave all things into the hand of the Son, as
love gives its power, authority, glory to wisdom ; and as the essential
divinity gives aU these, and even itself, to the divme humanity. In the
Lord's humanity all the the divine attributes are brought into nearer
relationship with created man. AU things are said to be given into the
hund of the Son, for the hand of the divine Being is his omnipotence,
in which all the divine attributes become operative for human redemp
tion and salvatiim. The hand of the Son is also the divine power
as it operates by the humanity ; and also the humanity itself, as that
by Avhich the power of the divinity is manifested among angels and
men. 36. In accordance with what the Baptist had stated concerning the
Son, he says, in conclusion, He that believeth on the Son hath everlast
ing life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the
wrath of God abideth on Mm. God had sent his Son into the Avorld,.
had filled him infinitely Avifli his Spirit, and had invested him Avitli
all his authority and power ; and uoav he demands for his Son the
same allegiance and homage Avhich his people had been required to
render to himself This is the human idea Avliich the Avords present.
A just interpretation teaches us, that the Eternal and Infinite, whom
men had obscurely knoAvn and imperfectly Avorshipped, had noAV mani
fested himself in the person of Jesus Christ, Avho was henceforth to

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 80
be known and worshipped as God. Belief in the Son comprehends
in it a behef in aU that Jesus Christ is, as well as in aU that he did.
In regard to the belief of which .lesus Christ is the object, true faith
is that Avhich makes us partakers of the divine nature ; restoring us to
the image and likeness of our Saviour ; a faith that has its roots in the
heart, and bears its fruits in the life. TMs is the faith that saves, that
hath everlasting life inscribed upon it. He Avho has not this living
faith shaU not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. What,
however, is here rendered unbelief, means also, and is sometimes trans
lated, disobedience : so that practical unbelief is that Avliich is here
declared to be the cause of our coming under the wrath of God. In
God there is, indeed, no wrath. He is pure love and mercy. But
this does not prevent us from being the children of wrath. In the
hearts of the unbelieving and disobedient the love of God is turned
into its opposite, thus into wrath. And as the love of God in the
heart is a fountain of blessedness, that which is called the Avrath of
God is a fountain of sorrow and suffering ; for out of the heart are
the issues of life, both good and evil, both happy and miserable.
Let us bcAvare of that state of obstinate unbelief, wMch has its root
in the corruptions of an unconverted heart; and of that condition
AvMch is expressed by the wrath of God abiding on us. Let us
come to the Lord our Saviour in true, confiding, loving faith, that Ave
may escape the wrath to come, and secure everlasting lUe.

CHAPTER IV.
The Lord's conversation with the woman of Samaria, the history
of which occupies the early part of this chapter, is one of the most
beautiful incidents in Ms life of beneficence. Humility, tenderness,
wisdom, are all displayed in that perfection, which we behold oMy in
the Son of Man, the impersonation of sympathetic love for frail
humanity. As in the case of Nicodemus, we seem to OAve the import-
taut lessons which this incident teaches us, to the accidental circum
stance of the woman coming to the well, whUe Jesus, Avearied with the
journey, sat upon it. Is it not easy to see that aU these circumstances
were divinely foreseen, and, therefore, so ordered as to bring about the
happy result which the Lord's conversation with the Avoman pro
duced?

m ST.. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
,1-3. When the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus himself
baptized not, but Ms disciples), he left Judea, and departed again into
Gcdilee. There had been a dispute between some of John's disciples
and a Jew about purifying, of which the baptism of Jesus formed
a part. If John's baptism was offensive to the Jews, that of Jesus
must have been stUl more offensive to the Pharisees, as it must be to
the Pharisaic principle in the human mind. The baptism of .Jesus
represented a more inward purification than that of John. And the
more inward the purification is, it brings to light deeper evUs of the
heart, and excites them into more deadly hostUity to the power
that would remove, and the good which would supplant them. The
Pharisees, Avhom the Lord so often charged Avith hypocrisy, repre
sented self-love united Avith deceit, the form in which the evU enters
most deeply into the human heart.
It is said that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized
more disciples than John ; but it is added that Jesus Mmself baptized
not, but his disciples. We have (iii. 26) spoken of tMee kinds of
baptism, the Avater-baptism of John, the water-baptism of Jesus, and
the Lord's baptism Avith the Holy Sphit and with fire; the two
fhst representing iDurification from outward and inward evils, the last
communicating the living principles of truth and love to the purified
wiU and understanding. TMs last baptism is jjeculiarly the Lord's.
His disciples, as ministers of his Word, can communicate the know
ledge of religion and dispense the outAvard means of salvation ; but
the Lord alone can give illumination and life. The means of remov
ing evUs can therefore be supplied and applied by the Lord's dis
ciples, but the Lord alone can implant good. Therefore, in water-
baptism, the Lord himself baptized not, but his disciples.
The resMt of the Lord's knowing what the Pharisees had heard
respectmg him, was his leaving Judea, and departmg agam into
Galilee. TMs may seem to indicate the mere humanity of Jesus.
He may seem to act with human precaution, and Avith a deshe for
self-preservation. As there are instances of his acting otherwise, tMs
is but an appearance, presented for a Avise purpose. In the sphitual
sense, these circumstances disclose the mode of the Lord's deaUngs, as
proAidentiaUy adapted to the states of men. HoAvever hostUe men
may be to him, he is never hostile to them ; and he removes as far
as possible all cause of offence, aU occasion of conflict. He there
fore, as it were, departs from where the confiict aaises, or moderates
the influx of Ms truth, so that the temptation to which it gives rise

CjaAP.. IV.] ST. JOHN. 91
raay be tempered and moderated To see this subject practically, Ave
must consider the Lord as witMn us, operating, througli the truths
Avhich we have acquired, against our evils. When our selfhood is
excited into severe opposition to the Lord's truth and love, he
acts less directly and powerfully upon our hereditary and acquired
eAuls, that they may not overcome and destroy the new principles
of life which he has inspired. His apparent deshe for self-preserva
tion is, therefore, a deshe for tbe preservation in us of the principles
of love and truth, which we derive from him, and iu which he is
present with us. The Lord's present journey, like all Ms others, re
presents progression, both m the process of his own glorification and
in that of man's regeneration. His purpose in leaving Judea was to
go into GalUee, Avhere he had been before. This descent represented
and describes the progress of the Lord's truth from the interiors of
the mind, Avhere it has been implanted, into the affections and
thoughts of the natural mind, that the graces of the heart may be em-
botUed in corresponding virtues m the hfe.
4. But in going from Judea to Galilee, Jesus must needs go through
Samaria. The divine truth, in progressing from the spiritual into the
natural mind must needs pass through the rational, which is inter
mediate. At the time of our Lord's pilgrimage on earth, Canaan Avas
diAuded into tMee regions, Judea, Samaria, GalUee, wMoh repre
sented three regions or degrees of the mind. Yet Samaria was differ
ent from what it had been. The kingdom of Israel, Avhich possessed
it, had been overturned, and the inhabitants of the country had been
carried away into captivity, and replaced by a strange people from the
land of theh conquerors. The Assyrians, avIio took Samaria and
peopled it, represented the rational principle, but, as the opponents of
Israel, they represented that principle perverted and opposed to the
sphituaL At tbe time of the present history the Samaritans were
half Jew, half GentUe. They had, indeed, adopted some of the religion
of the Israelites ; for soon after the deportation of the ten tribes, the
King of Assyria sent back one of the captive priests to teach the
people in Samaria the manner of the God of the land. The Samari
tans were, therefore, not enthely out of the pale of the church, and
yet were not, strictly speaking, within it. It was among this people,
therefore, that the Lord had now come.
5. Tliew cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar,
near to the i^rcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. The
city of Sychar was the same as that known to the patriarchs under the
name of Shechem. The parcel of ground near wMch Sychar stood

92 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV
is mentioned in Genesis (xxxiii.), where it is recorded that "Jacob came to
Shalem, a city of Shechem, and he bought a parcel of a field for an
hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called
it El-elohe-Israel." The manner in which this parcel of ground became
the property of Joseph, or of the tribes descended from him, is re
lated in the book of Joshua (chap. xxiv.). Before his death Jacob
bequeathed it to Joseph, predicting that God would bring Mm again
into the land of Ms fathers. This prediction was literaUy fulfilled hi
the case of Joseph. When the children of Israel left Egypt, they, as
Joseph had commanded them, carried up his bones. And when they
had obtained possession of the land, and Joshua had died, "the bones
of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried
they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground Avhich Jacob bought of the
sons of Hamor" (Josh. xxiv. 32). Joseph was a type of the Lord ;
and as burial signifies resurrection, the burial of Joseph's bones in
the parcel of ground in Shechem was representative of the resuscita
tion of the Lord's truth and love in the church. Here, then, nearly
two thousand years after the transaction, the Lord himself, of whom
Joseph Avas a type, appeared for the purpose of bringing into actual
existence that spiritual state which had been shadowed forth in the
literal history of a people, Avho had been chosen, not to be, but to re
present a church. He came to awaken into new life the principles of the
church, AA'hich, like the dry bones of Joseph, lay buried amongst them.
But Avhat is signified by this ground being the gift of Jacob to his
sou Joseph? Jacob represented the natural principle in man, and
Joseph the spirituaL The ground while it was Jacob's, is the good of
the natural mind, and its transfer to Joseph is the elevation of this
good out of the natural mind into the spiritual. This parcel of ground
thus signifies natural good made spiritual by regeneration. And this
good exists Avhen good natural dispositions are brought under the
influence of spiritual principles. Sychar Avas not on, but near to, this
parcel of ground, to teach us that the Samaritans were not in, but
Avere near to, this condition of mind. The Lord's coming to this
Samaritan city, spiritually means the influx of his divine truth into
doctrines having an affinity with the good of Avhich we have spoken ;
thus bringing himself near to men, by giving them a clearer intel
lectual perception of him as the Truth itself.
6. 'Sovr Jacob' swell wasthere. Jacob'swellis the Wordof God. More
expressive is it Avhen read "Jacob's fountain ;" for the Word is a fountain,
a well of Avater springing up unto eternal life. Jesus, therefore, being
wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. He had seen of the travail

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 93
of his soul ; and now he was to be satisfied. Although the Lord was sus
ceptible of bodUy fatigue, his weariness, like his hunger and thirst, was
symbolical. His Aveariness Avas that of which Ave read, Avliere the Lord
says, " Thou hast made me to serve Avith thy sins ; thou hast wearied
me Avith thine iniquities" (Isa. xliii. 24). " Ye have Avearied the Lord
Avith your words : yet ye say. Wherein have we wearied him ? When
ye say. Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord,
aud he dehghteth iu them ; or. Where is the God of judgment" (Mal.
li. 17). The Lord's weariness, even iu the days of his flesh, Avas the
expression of the weariness of Ms Spirit, resulting from the iniquities
and perverseness of mankind. And not only from the iniquities of
the world without, but from those which he inherited and bore in
Ms own body. His humanity bore the burden of all human fraUty,
as it existed in the world, subjecting him to trial and temptation, to
suffering and death. The Lord's weariness arose also from his tempta
tions and sufferings, and this state is further indicated by the time of
the day, when Jesus thus sat on the weU, Avhich was about the sixth
hour. It was in prophetic reference to these states of labour through
Avhich the Lord passed in his works of glorification and redemption,
that he, as the Creator, is said to have created the world in six days,
and to have rested on the seventh. And it is because regeneration is
an image of the Lord's glorification that in the representative church
men were commanded to labour, and do all theh work during six days,
and to rest on the seventh, the Sabbath being the symbol both of com
pleted glorification and regeneration. Jacob's weU being a type of the
Lord's Word, the Lord seated upon the Avell represents to us the divine
truth itself above or AVithin it. The Lord is not only the subject of
the Word, the testimony of the Lord' being the Spirit of prophecy ; he
is the Word itself, it being not only a revelation of him but a revela
tion from Mm. Considered without relation to him, the Word is
not Uvmg but dead, not spiritual but natural, not divine but human.
Regarded in its individual application, in which Jesus and the weU of
Jacob are the eternal and the revealed Word, as they are in the minds
of those Avho are passing through the regenerate life ; Jesus is wearied
with Ms journey, when, through labour and trial, our faith in his
truth and our love of his goodness become weak. Then it is that
Jesus sits on Jacob's AveU. For where can the Lord rest in us but oii
Ms own blessed Word ? Its truths refresh and restore the soul. The
inward graces of the mind find repose in the outAvard duties of the
life. When we are wearied with our journey, as w^e often must be
during our pUgrimage on earth, let us go to that Word where so many

94 ST. JOHN,. [Chap. IV.
encouraging promises are given, and where we shall ever find abundance
of those hving waters that refresh them that are weary.
7. While Jesus sat thus on the well, there cometh a womun of
Samaria to draw water. Samaria representing the semi-GentUe church,
the woman of Samaria represented the affection by which that church
was influenced in favour of the truth, and by which it was draAvn to
the Word of God, to draw water from it as the weU of salvation.
.Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. This request the Lord stUl
makes to Ms creatures, and especially to those Avho jjossess his Word
and seek instruction from it. The Lord's thhst is Ms ardent desire for
the salvation of his people. It Avas this desire for the salvation of
maMiind that gave utterance upon the cross to his dying exclamation,
" I thirst," and which stands as a perpetual appeal to his creatures to
give him to drink. But hoAv can we give him to drink ? We give to
the Lord when we gratefuUy return to him what Ave have received from
him, and especiaUy when Ave give to each other. In the JeAvish church,
the meat and drink offerings, when laid upon the altar, Avere con-'
sidered to be offered to the Lord, to satisfy Ms hunger and thhst. And
this Avas a type of true Avorship, m which Ave present to the Lord the
offerings of our best thoughts and affections, of thanksgiving and praise;
for we can offer to the Lord only that which Ave have received from
him, and it is by laying these gifts upon his altar that they become
sanctified to our use. But our truest worship is that of the life,
in ministering to others, as the Lord has ministered to us ; for hi giv
ing to them we give to the Lord. So he himself has assured us : "I
Avas an hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was tMrsty, and ye gaA-e me
drmk." And Avhen the righteous say, "Lord, Avlien. saw we thee
an hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink?" tMs is
the Lord's ansAver : " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least
of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Hoav, m thus minister
ing to others, do Ave minister to the Lord ? Every sincere desire to be
fed with good and truth is from the Lord, and is the Lord in us. It
is he who hungers and thirsts in us, for we have no inherent desire for-
spiritual and heavenly tMngs. As he is iu himself, the Lord can
receive notMng from us ; but as he is in the penitent aud humble
mmd, we can give him to drink, by endeavouring to satisfy the soul's
desire for his saving truth.
8. At this part of the narrative it is mentioned, to account for the
Lord's being alone and conversing with the woman, that his disciples
were gone away unto the city to buy meat. WhUe the disciples were
seeking to procure meat in the city, Jesus was asking drink from the

Chap., IV.] ST. JOHN. 95;
woman at the avcU. Thus our attention is draAvn to the tAvo elements
of spiritual life, the prmciples of goodness and truth, which are brought
out so clearly, as the soul's meat and drink, in the Lord's subsequent
conversation with the woman and Ms disciples. In their representa
tive character, the disciples are the affections and perceptions of
goodness and truth derived from the Lord ; and as a city, spirituaUy
understood, is the doctrine of the church, or the church with respect
to its doctrine, the disciples gomg into the city to buy meat de-,
scribes how the Lord, by means of the good and truth proceeding
from Mm, entered into and explored the doctrine of the Samaritan
church, to find if it possessed any true goodness, as the means of
his communion and conjunction Avith it. Buymg implies, however,
something of self-interest hi those who seU. The Lord gives to
Ills creatures of Ms free grace, of his unbought mercy. They are
invited to come, and buy Avine and milk, Avithout money and Avithout
price. But Avhile he giveth to aU liberally and upbraideth not, he
rewards those who minister to him. He gives Ms labourers their hire,
and even buys from them those things Avhich he has bestoAved upon
them as a gift. And this givhig them money for theh bread teaches
us, that for every good that men do they are enriched with knowledge
in return. In spiritual life there is, properly speaking, no buying aud
seUing, but only givhig and receiving. The only things Avhich our
Lord exhorts his disciples to seU are those of their corrupt selfhood;
all else, even the produce of their richest possessions, they are to give
away, as the means of having treasure in heaven.
9. When the Lord, m the absence of his disciples, asked the
Samaritan woman to give him to drink, she answered, Hoio is it that
thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am. a woman of Sumaria 'I
(for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans). The hatred
wMch existed between the Jews and the Samaritans, and AvMch Avas
most bitter on the Jewish side, too plaiMy indicated the existence of
what it also represented — the separation of faith and charity. When
the mmds of men, especiaUy of those professing the same faith, are
turned away from each other, it is a sign that they have no real be
lief in the truth, wMch teaches them that they should love the Lord
above aU things and their neighbour as themselves. The woman Avas
surprised, but it does not seem she was displeased, at being asked to
perform an act of kmdness to one who was a Jew. It may rather be
inferred that the Lord's unexpected expressions of friendly feelmg,
uttered, as they must have been, in tones of the deepest tenderness,
awakened in her heart some degree of a corresponding affection, and

96 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
made her feel like the good Samaritan, whose compassionate nature led
him to succour the man, his Jewish despiser, Avho had faUen among
thieves, when the priest and the Levite passed by on the other side.
So much may true kindness do to remove sectarian animosity, and make
its way to the hidden aff'ections of love, never entirely extinct in any
human breast. The woman addressed her words to Jesus as a Jew.
But Jesus was the pattern of what a Jew shoMd be, of one who is
not a JeAv outwardly, but who is a Jew iuAvariUy, whose circumcision
is not of the flesh, but of the Spirit — Avhose praise is not of men, but
of God. He was goodness itself, manifested in human nature ; and he
desired truth, not to be enriched thereby, but to be the object of its
human operation and perception. How is it that Jesus, being a Jew,
asks drink of a Samaritan woman ? To teach us, in the first place,
that he had come to remove enmities between bretMen, and break down
the middle waU of partition betAveen Jew and GentUe. And to in
struct us, in the second place, that the Lord from his divine love ever
appeals to the affection of truth, in his church and m the minds of Ms
creatures, to reciprocate his love, by giving him the truth which Ms
love desires for the sake of conjunction. The Lord by love joins
himself to us, and we by truth join oui'selves to him. We acquire
truth from the Word, and the Lord by the aflection of truth in us
joins that truth to Ms love, aud so joins us to himself. It is, indeed,
a matter of surprise and astonishment, that he by whom we live should
ask from us, as if he lived by us. Our Lord Mmself explams this, as
Ave flnd from Ms words to the woman in the next verse.
10. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knetvest the gift of
God, and who it is that saith to thee. Give me to drink, thou wouldest
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The
Lord asks not that he may receive, but that he may give — that what
Ave offer to him may be returned Avith his divme blessing. The truth
we derive from the Word by instruction is at first but knowledge ; it
has no life. But when from affection Ave, by humble and grateful ac-
knoAvledgment, connect it with the Lord as its life and eternal source,
then does it descend to us again as living truth. To realize this great
blessing Ave must know the gift of God, and who it is that asks of us
" Give me to drink." The gift of God is Jesus CMist — as eternal,
saving truth in the inner man, Avhich ever craves the truth Avhich has
been received from the Word in the outer man, that the dead may be
exalted into union Avith the livhig, and, when sanctified and vivified by
it, may flow down again as a living stream, carrying life and health
wherever it goes.

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 97
II. The woman did not understand the language and the lesson of
Jesus. Not more diiU of apprehension was she than those Avhom she
spirituaUy represented. In our early states of religious inteUigence,
we as Uttle see the connection and correspondence between the letter
and the spirit, as she saAv betAveen the Avater of Jacob's Avell and the
Lord's divine truth, of which it was the symbol. Thou hast nothing
(no vessel) to draw with, and the zcell is deep. So long as we know
and believe in the existence of the letter only, it seems to us as if
there coidd be nothing deeper in the Word, and no means of reach
ing even these without the ordinary vessel. Vessels symbohze the
receptacles of truth and goodness, which are not only the faculties
of the mmd, in which these principles are received, but the know
ledges wMch are the means of receiving and containing them.
Spiritual truths are not learned scientificaUy, but are discerned s^^iiit-
uaUy. They are not those which are drawn by laborious study
from the letter of the Word, and then laid up in the memory, but
sphitual truths are within those natural truths, and are seen by the
Ught of a purer reason, which is perception. When the woman said
that the weU was deep, she did not mean that the Avater was deep,
but that it Avas too far below the surface to be reached without a
vessel. She knew that Jesus coMd not obtain it, and she asked him,
Whence then hast thou that living water ? Those Avho know and
believe in no sense but that of the letter, can conceiA'-e of no higher
truth than that which the letter makes known. They suppose that
there is nothing beyond the reach of their o-wn doctrinal deductions.
They think that they have aU that the Word can yield. Whence
can there be anything greater or better ?
12. The woman, supposing Jesus aUuded to the water of some other
spring, asked Mm, Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave
us the well, and drank thereof Mmself, and his children, and his
cattle ? Jacob, as the father of the Israelitish people, represented
that church and everything that belonged to it. Jacob gave us the
weU— for the Word was revealed to the Israehtish church, and came
tMough it to the people. And he drank thereof, and his chUdren,
and Ms cattle ; for the Word Avas the rehgious drink of the Avhole
Israelitish church and people, with aU theh internal and external
affections. But the Israelitish people knew, and deshed to know,
only the literal sense of the Word. And those who know and be
lieve m the letter only, suppose that there can be nothing greater.
And as these have no experience but that of the natural mind, to
which the letter applies, and in wMch it resides ; they further suppose
G

98 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
that if the natural mind, with its internal and external affections, find
their satisfaction in its simple truths, there can be no greater satis
faction possible or deshable. " Art thou greater than our father
Jacob ? " is the demand of the natural man to every direction of Ms
mind to a higher kind or degree of truth. Hear the answer.
13, 14. Jesus answered and said unto her. Whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again : but whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst ; but tlie water that I shall give him
slicdl he in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. In
its simple natural meaning this is beautifuUy true ; the natural is
exhaustible, the spiritual is inexhaustible. Yet it is not true in the
sense m Avhich it is sometimes understood. The spiritual nature of
man requires, and AviU require through eternity, fresh supphes of
truth, as, in this Avorld, the body requhes fresh supplies of water.
The soul has deshes, as the body has thirst. We are rather, therefore,
to consider the Lord's words iu a figurative and in a sphitual
sense. Natural and earthly truths afford no permanent satisfaction
and happiness: those only wMch are sphitual can give endurmg
peace and pleasures for evermore. And so is it relatively with the
Word. The letter gives not fiiU and perenmal dehght : but the
sphit is, in every one who receives it, a weU of water springing up into
everlasting life. They that enter into its spirit shaU hunger no more
neither thirst any more ; for the Lamb shall lead them to livmg foun
tains of water. In his address to the woman the Lord distinguishes be
tween the water of Jacob's weU and the water which he shoMd give, as
a supply coming from without and one coming from witMn; one coming
from the memory and the other from the heart. This is the water
which the Lord gives, as distmguished from that which we procure our
selves, even when the supply is derived from revelation. Such is the
difference between the truth Ave acquire by our own spirit, and that
Avhich we acquhe by the Sphit of the Lord.
15. StiU thinking naturaUy, The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me
this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Both the
Avorldly and the naturaUy minded are wUhng to think of a happiness
greater than that which they possess. Many, indeed, deshe heaven as
a place of happiness, who have hardly auy of the elements of happi
ness in them, and have no disposition to acqmre them. Wliere there
is but httle of the principles of true happmess, there may be a disposi
tion to acquire more. There may, consequently, be a disposition in
favour of the spiritual sense of the Holy Word, where there is as yet
no knoAvledge of its nature or even of its existence. As every good

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 99
natural affection is intended to be the receptacle of a spiritual one,
there is in every such affection, not only the capacity but the deshe for
the Mgher, which constitutes its true spirit and life.
16. When the Lord has excited tMs deshe for sphitual truth in the
human heart and mind, he then begins to teach the qualifications and
¦conthtions for its reception. Jesns saith unto her. Go, call thy husband,
<ind come hither. Naturally, this was no doubt intended as the means
of revealing to the woman the Lord's MessiahsMp through his super
natural knoAvledge of her history. LiteraUy understood, it has no
immediate connection with the subject, or the giving of the living
water. SphituaUy, it has. Marriage is the symbol and the outbhtli
-of the heaveMy marriage of goodness and truth, or love and faith.
The spiritual mind cannot be opened to the perception of spiritual
truth, untU truth has been united to good in the natural mind. TMs
hMou of truth Avith good is effected by doing the truth, or living ac-
cordmg to the laAvs of divine order. The woman was therefore deshed
to go and caU her husband, to teach us, that the reception of heavenly
truth in the mner man requhes the union of good and truth, or of the
wUl and understanding, m the outward man. Another reason, under
this, for the Lord deshing the woman to call her husband was, that
not only avUI but understanding is necessary for the perception and re
ception of (Uvme truth. In the heaveMy marriage the wiU is repre
sented by the wife and the understanding by the husband. Hence our
Lord, when the woman expressed her deshe to receive, said, "Go, caU
thy husband." To go at the Lord's command means to live in accordance
-with his teaching ; and to caU her husband sigMfies to draAV the under
standmg into closer connection with the wUl, so that both wUl and under
standmg may come to the Lord, to receive the gift of his grace and truth.
17. The woman answered, Ihave no husband. It is remarkable that
the Lord should ask the woman to caU her husband, when he yet knew
she had no husband. It was no doubt to bring her sin to her remem
brance, and mduoe in her a state of humility and repentance. There
was a mixture of criminahty and candour m the woman's conduct.
Livmg with a man to Avhom she was not married, she was so far truth
ful as not to put hhn forward in a false character, though she at the
same time showed the deshe to conceal her connection with him. She
was perhaps a fair specimen of the half Jew half GentUe character of
the Samaritan people, and a true representative of the Samaritan
¦church — Jewish in sin, Gentile in simplicity. " I have no husband"
is expressive of the state of those who are spirituaUy Uke them. The
.spiritual Samaritan is one who has an affection for truth, but possesses

100 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV,
no genuine but oMy spurious truth, between which and the affection of
truth there is and can be no true marriage, but only an illicit connec
tion. But when the truth possessed is spurious, the affection cf which
it is the object is impure. Truth purifies good, and good exalts truth..
Affection, Avithout truth to purify and guide it, is not sphitual but
natural. Affection Avithout truth is blind ; and blind affection is mere
impulse, which acts for no end and is dhected to no object. The
character or quality of affection is such as that of the truth by wMch
it is gmded. If the truth is spurious — apparent and not real —
affection is so far impure. Hence the value of genuine truth. It»
teachings may not be always faithfuUy followed ; but when it is pos
sessed, there are at least the means of advancement. In the heaveMy
marriage, truth is the husband, and affection is the Avifej and from
theh union good motives and useful actions are produced. But the
Samaritan church and people had no genume truth. " I have no
husband" was the acknowledgment of the woman who represented
them. They had an affection for truth, which affection the woman
herself represented, but they had only a spurious kmd of truth, between
which and the affection of truth there could be no real marriage, but oMy
an illegitimate conjunction. In the church itself there was some percep
tion of this. So the Lord's words imply. Tliou hast well said, I have
no husband. And such a coMession by any one in corresponding.
spiritual circumstances is a preparation for a better state.
18. The acknoAvledgment that the woman made opened the way for
a further disclosure of her private history, and evidence of the Lord's-
superhuman character. Having first simply confhmed her testimony
respecting herself — "T. have no husband," he proceeded to show her that
he knew more of her history than this, and of a fact that she had not
revealed. For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now
hast is not thy husband : in that saidst thou truly. In those times of
easy divorce, and for any cause, it might not be a very extraordinary
thing for a woman to have had five husbands. The sphitual lesson is-
that which chiefly concerns us. And what amount of uMon was there
here ? Marriage signifies the union of good and truth. It may be con
cluded that the greater the number of husbands the woman had, the-
slighter the bond that existed betAveen her and any of them. Marriage,
in any of these instances, must have been but a very superficial union.
TMs is indicated by her five husbands ; for numbers, as we have had
occasion to remark, do not in sphitual language express the quantity but
quality ; and five signifies that which is comparatively imperfect. Five-
sigMfies remains, but in a small degree. Among these GentUes there

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 101
had been the remains of truth conjoined to good ; there had existed
amongst them some of the true elements of the church, simUar m
kind, but less perfect in degree, than those AvMch existed amongst the
-JcAvs : but this state had passed aAvay, and in its place had arisen one
in AvMch nothing of the union of goodness and truth existed in the
mind, but only a spurious and Avoiidly connection. And thus it is
with the individual members of the church itself in a worldly age.
Although some remams of good and truth in a united state may be im
planted m their mmds during early life, these may pass away, and
the truth, wMch in this case is only knowledge, may be held by the
affections in a loose and even sinfM connection, because only for the
sake of the Avorld and its pleasures.
19. When Jesus had declared her history, the woman saith unto him,
Sir, I perceive that thou urt a prophet. The Lord's knowledge of her
history revealed to her his prophetic character : and this discovery of
her guUt, m her present condition of life, no doubt humbled her, and
¦opened the way in her mmd for the reception of his truth. She
perceived that he was a prophet. This was part of the truth ; she did
not yet know the Avhole. A prophet represented heavenly truth, Avhich
& prophet Avas the instrument of revealmg ; but the Lord as the Christ
was more than aU prophets, the Divine Truth hi person. To receive
truth from the Lord is one thing, to receive the Lord as the Truth is
another : so is it one thing to see him as a prophet, and another to
receive him as the Chiist. Yet the Lord must be seen m one character
before he can be received in the other. We have seen the means by
wMch the first was brought about : we have now to consider the second.
20. The woman, understanding Jesus to be a JeAvish prophet, addresses
Mm as we nught expect a Samaritan to do. Our fathers worshipped
in this mountain. TMs was mount Gerizim, on which Israel stood
to bless, when the law was rehearsed in their ears, after entering into
the land of Canaan. After the separation of the ten tribes in the reign
-of Rehoboam, and theh forming themselves into a separate kingdom in
Samaria, they buUt a temple for theh own AvorsMp on " this mountain"
•of Gerizim, near which the Saviour aud the Avoman now Avere. This was
the cMef grround of the Jews' hatred ofthe Samaritans. We can hardly
•suppose that the woman wished to provoke a dispute on this pomt :
.she rather wished, it would seem, to hear the opinion of one whom she re
garded as a prophet on so momentous a subject. Our fathers worshipped
in this mountain, but ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men
ought to worship. It is supposed that by their fathers, she meant the
patriarchs, and appealed to Jacob and Ms sons worshippmg on Gerizim,

102 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
while they dAvelt in Shechem, as an evidence of "this mountain"
having been the place of divine worship long before men worshipped
at Jerusalem. The erection of a temple on mount Gerizim was, how
ever, a violation of the principle on which the temple of Jerusalem
was built — that there might be one place for aU the tribes to assemble.
Considered as a permission, worship in Gerizim coMd oMy represent
external worship without internal, wMle that in Jerusalem represented
external worship in Avhich there was internal. Yet all sacrificial
worship was shadoAvy, and Avas to pass away when the substance it
represented, which Christ Avas, had come and instituted spiritual and
internal worship. Hence the Lord's answer in the next verse.
21. Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in
this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. The Jewish
and the Samaritan Avorship were both local. Both peoples regarded
the place where they Avorshipped as being holy, and they considered
the worship performed there to be sanctified by the holy place. True
worship is that AvMch is performed in a holy state ; and Avhen the state
of the worshipper is holy, every place where he worships God is holy
ground. In the Jewish church place represented state ; and the place
appointed for worship Avas called holy, only because it was the grand
symbol of the holy state of love and faith, from AvMch aU true worship
proceeds. When the Lord came into the world, mere representative
AvorsMp ceased, and Avith it all local sanctity. When the Lord addressed
the Samaritan woman, the hour was rapidly approacMng, when neither
on mount Gerizim, nor yet on mount Zion, in the city of Jerusalem,
should men worship the Father. TMs impending change in the out
Avard condition of the church represented a coming change in the
inward state of the worshipper. A change from place to state, from the
letter to the spirit, Avas to be effected by the commg of the Lord as the
Holy One, the antitype of the temple made with hands. A correspond
ing change takes place in every regenerate person. Representative
worship was about to cease. But this is true with respect to a regenerate
individual, as AveU as a regenerate church. The worship of every
one is representatiA'-e and shadowy before he is made spiritual, even
when his worship, though simple, is sincere. The hour cometh, the
state arrives, with every one Avho suffers himself to be regenerated, when
neither in the mountam of natural love, nor yet in the city of doctrmal
inteUigence, wUl man expect to find or worship the Father. Wlien the
Lord makes his advent into the mind and life, the regenerate man
Avor,shiy)s the Father from higher and purer principles.
22. Yet there is an important difference between the two rudimentary

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 103
and preparatory states. Those who are in good without truth, or in
natural love alone, worship they know not what; but those who are
in doctrinal intelUgence know what they worship) ; for salvation is of the
Jews. The Jcavs occupied a higher position than the Samaritans.
The Jews had this advantage indeed over all classes of Gentiles — " To
them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and
the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ; whose
were the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came,
who is over aU, God blessed for ever" (Rom. ix. 4, 5). Therefore, as
our Lord said, " sah^ation is of the Jews." As the "Word revealed to them
formed the connecting link between heaven and earth, the church
mstituted amongst them formed the centre from which light was
diffused to the surrounding nations ; and as they supplied the root of
Jesse, out of Avhich the Branch sprung, salvation, both for theh own
and for aU time, came of the Jews. But there is a more spiritual
lesson in the Lord's words than tMs. The Jews, as the descendants of
the patriarch, and the remnant of the Idngdom, of Judah, represented
the principle of love or goodness, of which salvation essentiaUy comes.
Yet the JcAAush was only a representative church ; so that all that
is said of the Jews is to be sphitually understood. As that wMch the
Lord here speaks of is the symbol of the state w-hich precedes redemption
and regeneration, salvation is not actuaUy in it, but comes tMough it.
Aa Jesus the Saviour came of the Jews, so does salvation come of
that state wMch the Jews represented.
23. Worship of the Father from natural affection and doctrinal know
ledge is foUowed by the worship of him from the sphit of love and in
the light of truth. The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worship
pers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. The spirit and truth m which the Lord
is to be worshipped are graces and states in the mind of the worsMp-
per ; but in relation to the Mstorical period to which our Lord refers,
the spirit and the truth, in AA'hich the Father was then about to be
worshipped, came by Jesus liimself, from whom every human worsMpper
receives them. Spirit is the life or affection which enters into and
animates worsMp, and truth is the inteUigence Avhich eiUightens and
dhects it. The Lord Mmself is the life and Ught, as weU as the Object
of aU true worsMp. He was the light in wMch the life was mani
fested ; and in Mm we are enabled to worship the Father. " The
Father seeketh such to worsMp him." The divine love of the Lord,
or the Lord from Ms divine love, seeks true and spiritual Avor
sMp for the worsMpper's sake. Worship by the blood of buUs and

104 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
goats was only a temporary institution, m accommodation to the sensual
states of men ; but it had always been the deshe of the divine mind
that worship should be sphitual, and such it was made when our Lord
came into the Avorld, and he Mmself became the great and living sacri
fice. The Lord is to us aU that the sacrifice, and the priest who offered
it, were to the Jews.
24. God is a Spirit. And here the name God is used instead of
Father ; for God is more expressive of the Divme Wisdom, as Father
is of the Divine Love. But Avhen it is said that God is a Sphit,
we are not to understand it to mean that God is a mere essence. God
is Man — the perfect l\Ian of Avhom created man is but the imper
fect image. He is the only being, substance, form ; all others are his
created images, Avhose existence and subsistence are from him. God is
caUed Sphit specifically with reference to the Spirit which proceeds from
him, and which, when received in the minds of angels and men,
makes them spiritual, and enables them to worship him in spirii and
in truth. TMs was especially the case with the Spirit of Christ, the
Holy Spirit; and therefore the spiritual and true worship of God
is the worship of him in the person aud in the sphit of Jesus Christ.
This is the worsMp of which our blessed Lord speaks, as that wMch
Avas about to succeed and supersede the worsMp which had been
practised during the Israelitish dispensation. The hour that was com
ing Avas that in Avhich the work of redemption was finished ; which
fmished the ceremonial law Avith its sacrificial worship, and introduced
a Avorship that was sphitual and living, because offered to a Bemg who
is Spirit and Life, by spiritual and Uving AvorsMppers.
25. I know that Messias cometh, lohich is called Christ. When he is
come he icill tell us all things. We need not dAveU on this declaration
in regard to the speaker, but consider its insphed meaning. The affec
tion of truth has iu it the faith of truth, and man, when partiaUy en
lightened, looks forAvard with confidence to receiving a fuU measure of
inteUigence. "I knoAv that Messias cometh." Such is the language of
the loAing heart. It is like the exclamation of Job — " I knoAv that my
Redeemer hveth." I know that my present state of obscurity and uncer
tainty wUl pass away, and be followed by light and certamty. The
!Messias, the Anointed, the Truth itself from Love, when he comes, wiU
teU my understanding all things that my heart desires to know.
26. When the woman had thus expressed her faith in the comint'
SaAuour, Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. In spiri
tual things, as in the spiritual Avorld, there is uo time : state is every
thing. When the mind conies into the state of reception the truth is

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 105
revealed. Jesus is with us even when he is yet unknown to us, and
he reveals himself whenever the heart is prepared to accept hhn.
Here he is caUed Jesus, which is expressive of his divine love, and
Avhat he " speaketh" is truth from love.
27. WMle Jesus yet spake, his disciples came. At the time that the
Samarittm woman came out of the city to Jacob's weU to draw water,
the disciples of Jesus had gone into the city to buy meat. This
represented a search mto the state of the church of the Samaritan
¦GentUes, to see and to draAv out Avhatever of good it contained, to bring
it to, and connect it with, the Lord. The disciples procured meat —
the church yielded good, and it is now brought to Jesus that he
may partake of it. But the disciples marvelled that he talked with
the woman. This arose from the Jewish prejudice against the
¦Samaritans, and from the opinion of the Jews, that women were not
Avorthy of receiving religious instruction. The state of the disciples
represents that state of the regenerating mind, when faith regards
charity Avith something of contempt, and is unwiUing to think that
it shoMd be the immediate object and receptacle of heaveMy truth.
Yet no man said, What seekest thou ? or, Why talkest thou with her ?
How strikingly does this show the superiority of Jesus as felt by his
•disciples. So a sincere but mistaken faith feels the power and virtue
¦of the Lord's operation into charity, even while it marvels at the Lord's
¦communion with it. Many of the Lord's doings are marveUous in our
eyes, whUe our eyes are but partiaUy opened to see his wise and just
-economy : and when wiU they be able to behold him as he is ? What
the Lord either seeks from or imparts to those who are m charity, is
unknoAvn to those who are only in faith.
28, 29. The woman then left her wcder-pot, and went her iva.y into the
city. When those who are m charity are instructed by the Lord in
the nature of sphitual truth, they leave the scieiitifics of natural truth,
meant by the water-pot, and enter mto doctrine, meant by the city.
And the object of thus entering into doctrine, is to instruct by means of
it, and brmg those who are m the truths of doctrine of the church mto
the acknowledgment of the supreme Truth, and into conjunction with
the supreme Good. These truths of doctrine are the men of the city,
•and the effort to draw them out and elevate them, is implied in the
invitation of the Avoman, Come, see a man wh ich told ine all things that
ever I did. All her deeds were told her. How impressive. The
Lord searches the heart and the reins : his truth rcA^eals the secret
thoughts and mtents of the heart. He indeed knows every one of us,
and all of us aUke ; but it is Ms knowledge revealed Avithin us, and

106 ST. JOHN, [Chap. IV.
bringing our doings home to our own conscience, that makes us true
penitents, and zealous workers in his cause, both mwardly in our
selves, and outwardly among others. This inward practical revelation
is the test of truth. Is not this the Christ ? He only can convince of
sin who can forgive sin. The truest witness of the truth is the mward
witness of our deeds as unroUed by it before us.
30. Then they went outofthecity, andcame unto Mm. The truths were
elevated out of doctrine, or, to express it otherwise, the mteUectual percep
tions were raised out of a doctrinal to a spiritual view of Divine truth.
31. In themean while his disciples prayed him, saying, blaster, eat.
The Lord partook of human food, and those who thus mimstered unto
him, did to Jesus an act similar to that which the Jews did to Jehovah,
when they laid their sacrifices as food for him upon the altar. We
sphituaUy ask our Lord to eat witen Ave ask Ms acceptance of the
good which we have acquhed.
32. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
The Lord here began to teach his disciples, who had brought Mm
meat, a lesson simUar to that Avhich he taught the woman who had
come to draw AA'ater. As Ms object was to teach the Avoman that he
had m himself a fountain of living water, so Avas Ms object to teach Ms
disciples that he had in himself an inexhaustible supply of liAung
bread. They knew not yet of the true nature of tMs bread of life ; he
had not yet delivered his discourse on that great subject, in which he
declared himself to be the hving bread that came doAvn from heaA^en.
As the water which the woman came to draw was the type of natural
truth, so the meat which the disciples craved the Lord to eat was the
type of natural goodness. Our Lord did not, therefore, eat it, but
began to teU those who pressed the meat upon him that he had meat to
eat that they knew not of ; mtimating that they knew not of the nature,
or even the existence, of the good wMch constituted his true meat.
33. The disciples shoAV their ignorance of what our Lord meant.
.Therefore said they one to another. Hath any man brought him ought
to eat ? They knew not yet of any good but human good, nor had
they any clear apprehension that the Lord's good was other than human
and finite. Such is the state and case of every early disciple. He
thinljs of the Lord as some pMlosophers tlimk of the sun, as fed by sur
rounding matters that in reality depend upon him for theh existence.
34. Jesus proceeds to teach them what food he had to eat. He saith
unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to
finish his work. How sublime a truth ! and how divmely instruc
tive ! It is no metaphor, but a great reality. The Lord's Avork was to

Chap. IV.] ST JOHN. 107
do his Father's wiU. No doubt he partook of natural food, but sup
posing that he who multipUed the loaves and fishes needed this f jr the
support of Ms natm'al body, that Avas not the meat by Avhich he lived.
That which constituted Ms meat, AvMch nourished the body AAdiicli
men saAv not with theh natural eyes — the humanity that was a form'
of goodness and truth — Avas the domg of the AviU of him that sent him.
For what is the Avill of God but divme good ; and doing this wUl
made the humanity divine good also. And Avhen the Lord had
finished the Avork which the Father gave him to do, then Avas he the
Father himself m a divine humanity — that wMch rose in poAver and
glory. As it Avas Avith the Lord, so is it in hke measure with his dis
ciples. Their meat is to do their Father's will and to finish Ms Avork.
It is this which feeds the immortal soul as truly as material substances
feed the body.
35. After teaching Ms disciples respecting his OAvn food, the Lord
draws their attention to the harvest Avhich is to provide food for his
church. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and t'hen cometh
harvest ? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are wMte cdready to harvest. The harvest signifies
the church itself, or those who were to be gathered mto it ; but it
sigMfies also the principles by the reception of wMch men become
members of the church ; and these principles are the soul's spiritual
food. TMs provision was the immediate result of the Lord's redeem-
mg Avork. The abundant provision which his redemption and gloiifi-
cation made for the salvation of niankind was the harvest, which his
disciples had said was yet four months distant. Harvest is the in
gathering of goodness and truth, of the conjunction of Avhich four, like
two, is expressive. And this harvest Avas already come, but the dis
ciples saw it not. To see it, the Lord deshed them to lift up their
eyes and look upon the fields — that is, to elevate their understandings,
and regard that Avhich was present, though unseen; for the fields Avere
wMte already uuto harvest. Standing corn sigMfies truth in the mind's
conception, and Avhite is expressive of its maturity in the understand
ing, the reaping of the harvest havmg relation to the ingathering of the
fruits of faith into the hfe.
36-38. Ofthis reaping our Lord proceeds to speak. He says. And
he thut reapeth reeeiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal:
that both he thut soweth and he that reaj^eth may rejoice together.
And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapieth.
He evidently speaks of the contmued labours of the divmely commis-
ioned teachers of aU times. Those that sow are the prophets of the

108 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
Old Testament, and those Avho reap are the apostles of the New. The
Lord, therefore, says, I sent you to reap thut whereon ye bestowed no
labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. The
labours of other men and of other dispensations had prepared the way
for the Christian dispensation and its ministers : they had sowm the
seeds, and their successors Avere about to reap the harvest. But we
may more profitably vicAV this subject in its purely spiritual sense,
abstractly from times and persons, and apphcable to the regenerate mmd.
Sowing and reaping are two different acts of the regenerating man, m
two different states of the regenerate life. Sowing is the msemmation
of the truths of the Word into the mind, and reaping is the ingather
ing of the fruits of a holy life. Truths nre sown in the mmd during
the age of childhood and youth; and he in whose mind they have
been sown must himself reap the harvest. But one inseminates truths
in his own iniiid Avhen he arrives at mature years, and reaps the
harvest Avhen he is regenerated. Seeds are the truths of the under
standing, and their fruits are the goods of life. The afi'ections of
truth are the soAvers, and the affections of good are the reapers. In
other words, the inteUectual affections sow the seeds of truth m the
mind, and the voluntary affections reap the fruits of truth in the life.
While, therefore, one sows and another reaps, the end of this economy
is, that he AA^ho sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. And this
rejoicing takes place Avhen the affections of truth and of good, or Avhen
the understanding and the wiU, are united in the final end, AvMch is use,
and the ultimate state, which is salvation and happiness.
39. The evangelist now returns to the Samaritans, who went out
of the city and came to him (ver. 30) ; and he tells us that many of
the Samaritans of that city helieved on him for the saying of the
woman. The woman signifies affection, the men thoughts. The in^
fluence which the affections have upon the thoughts is weU brought out
in this and in another scripture narrative. The Avomen, it AviU be re
membered, were the fhst to convey to the disciples the glad tidings of
the Lord's resurrection. Reception of the truth by the thoughts
through the affections is meant by this acknowledgment of Jesus by
the men of Sychar, who believed on him for the saying of the woman.
Yet this influence brings its own testimony Avith it — the mward and
practical testimony, that the truth of God reveals the thoughts and
intents of the heart — " he told me aU things that ever 1 did."
40. So lohen the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him
that he vMuld turry with them : and he abode (or tarried) ihere two
days. The Samaritans did not couie to satisfy themselves of the truth

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. 109
of what the Avoman had told them of Jesus, but to ask him to tarry
Avith them. When the mmd is convinced of the truth, it desires that
the Truth itself may remain with it. The Lord's compliance with
the men's request teaches us that he is ever willing and ready to enter
into the sincere heart, and to enter into conjunction of life with those
who are prepared to receive him, AvMoh conjunction is here expressed
by the Lord remaining Avith them two days. In the Word a distinc
tion is made between tarrying and abiding, or sojourning and dAveUhig.
Tarryhig is predicated of the life of truth Avith good, and abiding, of
the hfe of good Avith truth. This distinction is not, hoAvever, made
here. States of life being meant by days, tarrymg certain days m-
volves the idea of suocessiAe states — two days, successive states of truth
with good, of faith with charity, and the conjunction of truth witk
good, and of man with the Lord, as the result. Whether Ave speak
of the conjunction of good and truth in man, or the conjunction of
man Avith the Lord, it amounts to the same ; the conjunction of these
principles in man gives him conjunction Avith the Lord, for the Lord
dwells Avith man m the heavenly marriage of goodness and truth.
41, 42. Many more believed because of his oion Word. There is
mediate and there is immediate teaching from the Lord's Word, as
there are mediate and immetUate influx from the Lord himself. We
aU receive the truth in the first instance from others ; but instruction
is not complete tiU Ave are taught immediately by the Lord himself.
These two classes of persons and states of life are spoken of by the
prophet, as those who are taught of the neighbour and those who are
taught of God. And the promise is given thtit a time AviU oome, when
the people shall be aU taught of God, when they shall teach no more
every man Ms neighbour and every man Ms brother, saying. Know the
Lord,, for they shaU aU know Mm from the least of them unto the
greatest of them (Jer. xxxi. 34). We are not indeed to understand this
promise to men, that the time wUl ever arrive when human teaching
AvUl be unnecessary; but a time wiU come, in the history of the church,
when human authority in matters of faith shaU cease, when God avUI
be his own teacher as weU as his own interpreter, when men wUl be
heve what they know, not merely what they learn, and wiU know what
they believe as well as believe what they know. TMs change of state
shoMd also be effected in each one of us. Happy if, when we have
received the truth on human authority, we reach the more perfect state
of accepting it on its own testimony, which is to make the Lord our
teacher. TMs did the Samaritan, who said unto the woman, Noio
we believe, not because of thy saying : for ive have heard him our-

ilO ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
selves. Immediate teaching and influx confirm and iUustrate those
which are mediate. Therefore, the men said m conclusion, we know
that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Mediate
teaohmg and influx act .principally on the external of the mmd, im
mediate teaching and influx enter into the internal, giAing sphitual
light and vitality to what had been externaUy received, and changing
,,-an historical into a living faith.
43. When the Lord left Judea it was to go into Gahlee, Samaria
being taken m the Avay. Now, after two days he departed thence, and
went into Galilee. WhUe these journeyings describe, in the supreme
sense, the progressive glorification of the Lord's humanity, and, Mstori-
•caUy, the rise of Ms church among aU classes of those m whom there
Avas any remnant of spiritual affection for goodness and truth ; they
,shoAved forth the advancement of Ms kingdom in the individual mmd.
In reference to the regeneration of man, Ave have seen (ver. 3) that the
Lord's journey from Judea through Samaria into GalUee, represented
the progression of Ms divine truth from the internal, through the
rational, into the natural degree of the mind; wMch may, m a general
Avay, be called its progression from the avUI through the understanding
into act; for in proceeding from the wiU into act, the diAone truth
" must needs" pass tMough the understandmg. The two days he abode
-in Sychar are again mentioned, mtimating the conjunction of truth Avith
good in the rational principle ; after which it was to be manifested m
its power m the natural mind and outward life.
44, 45. A reason is assigned for the Lord's going into GalUee, where
he was brought up, wMch would seem, according to our human notions,
¦more lUiely to repel than to attract him. For Jesus himself testified,
that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. This has been felt
to be a difficulty. Without eMarging on it, Ave may remark, that this
can hardly refer to what was future, since in entering theh country
" the Gahleans received him," but Avould seem rather to refer to the
past, Jesus having previously testified tMs to the Gahleans themselves
(Luke iv. 24) : and to that JoMi would seem m the present instance
to refer. Some of the GalUeans, who Aveut up to the passover, had
seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast. There is a
beautiful and mstructive truth in the Lord's going down into GalUee
Avhere he was brought up. The Lord's early life, as he now Uves it, is
Ms life m us during the early period of our existence. He is brouo-ht
up in aU minds, especiaUy in the minds of those Avhose parents bring
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Our infantUe and
chUdish conceptions of Jesus are the periods of Ms infancy and chUd-

Chap. IV.] ST. JOHN. Ill
hood in us. As our conceptions of him, or of Ms truth, improve, he
increases in Avisdom and stature. In brief, the Lord's outward life in
the Avorld has its image in his inward life in the minds of those, who
pass through the stages of the regenerate life, corresponding to those
of his own glorification. Jesus leaves GalUee, when he has implanted
iu the young mind the remtiins of goodness and truth ; but he returns
to it agam, Avhen, in manhood, regeneration actually commences. TMs
is the time and state Avhich are noAV spoken of. The difference in the
conduct of the GalUeans, before and after this visit to Jerusalem, is ex
plicable on another ground. When the truth manifests itself wdiere it
has been brought up or taught, and has become familiar froin chUd-
hood, it is at Mst without honour ; for the first daAvn of manhood, even
in those who have been religiously educated, is not unfrequently
marked, for a time, by scepticism or mdifference, or even by hostihty.
But when the Lord's truth has been elevated into the spiritual mmd,
and has come down tMough the rational into the natural mind again,
havmg there done and spoken mhaculous tMngs, it is then received and
honoured. It is received and honoured by and tMough those natural
thoughts and affections that have themselves been elevated towards
the interiors, and have there experienced purification from falses, wMch
is signified by the feast of the passover, or of uMeavened bread, to
wMch the Galileans also went up.
46, 47. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the
water wine. Cana is the church among the Gentiles ; and the makmg
the water wine represented the bringing of spiritual out of natural
truth. This mhacle Avas performed to conM-m the belief of his dis
ciples ; the Lord's second visit to Cana resulted in the confirmation of
the faith of an eminent GentUe, by a miracle of another kmd. This
GentUe was a nobleman, whose son was sick at Cupjernuum. This man
affords a pleasmg instance of faith in Jesus, first in his commg to im
plore his help, and secondly in placing entire reliance on his simple word.
The nobleman, as the orighial expresses, Avas an officer of the king, or
¦one near his person. The very court of Herod Antipas furnishes
¦an eminent instance of behef in the meek and humble Saviour. But
as the king is not named, we are to understand, as in many other cases
in the Word, the regal office abstractiy ; and as this is symbohcal ot
the government of truth, the nobleman is one Avho loves and obeys
the truth as he knows it. The affection of truth is meant by his son;
for affection is an offshoot from love, as a chUd is from a parent. But
the son was sick. The soul sickens when its deshes remain unsatis
fied ; for love unsatisfied, like hope deferred, maketh the heart sick

112 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IV.
Sickness also corresponds to temptation ; for evil sphits infuse their
evU influences into the mind which feels its lack of heavenly truth
and goodness, and causes anxiety even to despah. TMs is like the
state of the nobleman, whose son was at the point of death; for de
spair is the extmction of hope. But he saw that there was stUl one,
and only one, ground of hope remaining — hope in Jesus. It is to bring
the mind to rely on this hope alone that temptation is permitted; and
it is only Avhen every other hope is broken doAvn, that hope m the aU-
sufficiency of the Saviour prevails and succeeds.
48. It is remarkable that on this, as on some other occasions, the
Lord does not immediately satisfy the desires, and ansAver the prayers
of the suppUcant, urgent as the need seems, earnest as the prayer is.
To the beseecMng of the afflicted parent the Lord answers. Except
ye see signs und wonders, ye will not believe. The Lord's answer was
addressed to others as well as to him ; for the GalUeans had refused
to believe tUl they saAv the mhacles wMch he did. Belief had
led the nobleman to Jesus, and belief was the result of the mhacle,
the effect of which was that the father " Mmself beUeved and Ms
whole house" (ver. 53). His first behef in Jesus must have been
belief in hhn as a prophet ; his fmal belief in Mm must have been a
behef in him as the Messiah. And in tMs the man represented one
whose first faith is natural, intellectual, and historical. Savmg faith is
sphitual, of the heart and mmd ; and tMs faith, confirmed by tempta
tion, gives health and newness of life.
49. The oMy answer of the father to tMs seeming reproof is. Sir,
come down ere my child die. The son was sick at Capernaum. This
place represented an external state relatively to that meant by Cana.
In a previous chapter (h. 12, 13), we read that after the marriage in
Cana, Jesus went down to Capernaum, and went up fr-om thence to
Jerusalem. When he returned from Jerusalem he went chrect to Cana,
and the nobleman came up from Capernaum to Cana to implore Ms
help. The nobleman represented those who, wMle they have a sincere
and ardent affection for truth, are held m external things, as the fal
lacies of sense and science, but who come to elevate theh minds to the
Lord, as revealed in his Word.
50. The Lord (Ud not comply Avith the man's entreaty to " come
doAvn," but only said unto hmi. Go thy way, thy son liveth. The Lord
performed this miracle at the very moment he gave the assurance that
the child hved ; Ulustrating the truth he had declared reprovingly to
the Jews, " Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar
off?" (Isa. xxxiu. 33). The man believed the word that Jesus had

Chap. IV. j ST. JOHN. 113
spoken with him, and he went his way. Here again is faith. He had
beUeved that he only needed the Lord's presence to have Ms chUd
cured; he uoav believes that the Lord has already cured him. His
word is sufiicient. This is a ucav and higher phase of faith. The
command. Go thy way, is not Avithout its practical significance. To go
is to hve, and the law of truth is the way in wMch the disciple is to
Avalk. The man obeys the Lord's command; he goes bj- the Avord of
the Lord, and m his strength.
51. And as he was going down, his servants met him, and told him,
saying. Thy son liveth. Any principle that is subordinate and sub
servient to another, is, sphitually, its servant : as truth to good, natural
things to sphitual. The servants' going out to meet theh Lord, and
convey the glad tidings to him, describes the co-operation of the
natural mmd with the spiritual, and of truth Avith good ; and meetmg
him is expressive of their reciprocation and conjunction. The servants
convey to theh master the joyful tidings, Thy son liveth. SpirituaUy
understood, truth enables good to perceive the uoav life, Avhioh the
Lord has imparted to the distressed and languishing affections. When
good and truth thus meet together, the word of the Lord, already be
heved, is reahzed — Ms truth is confirmed, and his goodness is experienced.
In reference to this same circumstance, the Word speaks of mercy and
truth meeting together, righteousness and peace kissing each other.
52. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend.
The father no doubt wished to knoAv if there was an exact coincidence
between the time of the Lord's word and his son's recovery, the more
certahUy to connect them as cause and effect. Time is state ; and the
deshe to know the hour when his son began to amend, is expressive of
a desire to know the precise nature of the new hfe m its begm-
ning. The servants answered. Yesterday about the seventh hour, the fever
left him. The seventh hour is a holy state ; and is especiaUy a
state of rest and peace, after states of labour and temptation. These
states of temptation are the fever of the soM, when the thoughts rush
tumultuously tMough the troubled mmd, and the feelings are wrought
up to the highest pitch of painful excitement. The power of the
Lord is more conspicuous, as its resMt is more blessed, in removing
the fever of the soul than in removmg the fever of the body, wonderful
as this was in the present case. This miracle of the Lord .showed Ms
omniscience and omnipotence, and therefore his divinity. He is
entreated to come and cure a chUd. He sends Ms word and heals
him. He wUls, and the ragmg fever, like the tempestuous sea, is m a
moment calmed, and the blood flows gently on.
n

114 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
53. Tlie father knew that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus
suid unto him, Thy son liveth : and himself believed, and his whole
house. It is only necessary to remark on the resMts of this fact — the
recognition of the chUd's restoration as the work of Jesus. We find
that it led to the whole house receiving the faith of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The whole house spirituaUy means the whole mind, that is,
the Avhole of the affections and thoughts. When aU these are brought
under the mfluence of a sphitual and saving faith, then is man
regenerate or born again. New life is imparted to the soul, and the
man becomes a new creature.
54. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when lie was
come out of Judea into Galilee. The question for us is, what
sphitual relation has tMs second miracle in GalUee to the first ? It is
deserving of remark that these two mhacles produced the same effect,
but upon different persons. The effect of the first was, that "his
disciples believed on him ; " the resMt of the second Avas, that the
father of the chUd "himself beheved, and his whole house." The
miracles, the persons, and the places, aU pomt to the fact, that they
Avere both Avrought for producmg or confirming faith m the
Lord, first in the interiors, and next in the exteriors, of the mind :
thus tending to make the man of God perfect, thorougMy furmshea
unto aU good works. There are works of the mind and works of the
life, although it is only when they unite that they make man perfect.

CHAPTER V.

This chapter contains the account of another and mteresting miracle
and the record of a most important discom-se of our Lord, wMch arose
out of it. Interesting and important as these are m theh literal sense,
they are much more so in theh spiritual meaning, for tMs reveals
divine truths immediately applicable to our regeneration, wMch is the
work and state of salvation.
1. Wlten Jesus performed the miracle of curing the nobleman's son,
he had just come from Jerusalem to GalUee ; and the present chapter
begms with saying, that after this there was a feast of the Jews; and
Jesus went up to Jerusalem. It is not knoAvn how lono- this second
journey was after the first, nor what feast was there celebrated.
SpirituaUy considered, it is enough to knoAv the sequence of the events
and there being a feast at the centre of the Jewish worsMp. " After

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 115
tMs " is expressive of a new state, suoceedmg and connected with the
former, and a further manifestation of the divine love and wisdom
in the cure of spiritual disease, and m the communication of spiritual
truth; wMle "a feast of the Jcavs" is expressive of the worship of the
Lord from love and faith, and the sanctification of the heart and mind
by its means. In the supreme sense, the Jewish feasts, like all other
acts of ceremomal or sacrificial worship, represented the Lord's sacrifice,
that is, his glorification ; and, in a secondary sense, man's regeneration.
Hence the reason of Jesus attending these feasts. His going up to
them is expressive of an elevation of sttite, or, what is the same, an
entermg more interiorly into the mind of the regenerate man, that he
may keep with Mm the feast of love and wisdom. These feasts, m rela
tion to the church and men, are the sphitual states of love and faith, into
which the Lord enters, that he may sup vvith us, and we with hhn.
2. It was when the Lord was in Jerusalem at the feast that he
performed one of those miracMous cures Avhich symbolized tbe heal
ing of the sphitual maladies of the soul. Now there is at Jerusulem,
hy the sheep-market, a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue,
Bethesda, having flve porches. This pool represented the Word of
God. Bethesda, wMch means the "house of mercy," is eminently
expressive of the Divine Word, as a revelation of God's wUl, and an
offer of his mercy to afflicted and perishing sinners. The pool was at
Jerusalem, by the sheep-market, to signify that the Holy Word, whUe
committed to the care of the church, wMch is Jerusalam, is practicaUy
Avith those who are prmcipled in spiritual love or charity, these being
spirituaUy meant by sheep. But the pool of Bethesda is a symbol of
the Word, not only as it exists as a book, but as it exists by the
knowledge of its truths in our minds. It is especiaUy a pool when
its truths are in the memory, for there they are coUected together, and
there they Ue motioMess, unable to effect a cure.
3. As the pool is in the mind itself, so are the multitude of
impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the
water. These sick persons are the mMtitude of disordered affections
and thoughts, that are iu every yet unregenerated, or partially
regenerated, mind. In the blind, we may see the ignorance that
hinders and the errors that pervert our inteUectual perception of truth
and goodness ; in the halt we may see the unequal manifestation of
these prmciples in our hfe and conversation ; and in the Avithered, the
enfeeblement of some or aU the poAvers of active life in the wiU, wMch
produces mcapacity for moral action. Every one of us is thus infirm
by nature, and more or less by practice. But the scene at the sheep-

116 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
market represents the condition of one who has discovered his spirUual
infirmities, and, earnestly deshing to have them removed, has entered
the porch of introductory knowledge, and waits patiently and prayer-
fuUy for deliverance, which comes by the moving of the waters, the
means and meaning of Avhich are next to be considered.
4. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and
troubled the water : whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water,
stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. As the waters
of the pool are the truths AA'Mch have been acquired from the Word, and
laid up as knoAvledge in the memory, the angel is the Sphit of truth wMch
descends from heaven, and enters the mind, quickening the truths that
had lain dead and inactive there. The angel went down oMy at a certain
season. The reason of this is to be sought, not in God or Ms angels,
but in ourselves. The Lord has no times or seasons for descending A\ith
Ms blessings to mankind. His time is ahvays ready. With him this
is the day of salvation. WhUe we seem to wait for grace, he is waiting
to be gracious. Our state to receive is his thne to give. The season
in which the angel descends is determined by us ; the gift comes when
we are prepared to receive it. Even after we have discovered our infir
mities, and have become earnestly deshous of having them removed, we
often have to wait, and sometimes long, before the desired dehverance
comes. Many prayers aud many efforts are needed to effect theh re
moval. The reason of this is not difficult to discover. The deshe is
a newly-conceived affection, the infirmity is an mgenerate lust or con
firmed habit. The period of our waiting and the season of our deliver
ance are determmed by the relative strength of our desire and of our
infirmity. But another singular circumstance in the case Avas, that
when the angel had moved the waters, the first only that stepped m
was made whole. Why Avas there such a seemmg parsimony in dispens
ing so great a gift ? Might not the Avhole multitude have plunged into
the pool, and risen from its waters restored to the blessing of health ?
The greater miracle Avould have been as easy to omnipotence as the less.
But divme Avisdom designed the chcumstance to convey a sphitual
lesson. Our spiritual infirmities are not removed at once, but by de
grees. The whole multitude of our evils are not wiped aAvay in a
moment, by a single act of grace through a smgle act of faith. Our
evils are removed, as the infirm persons at the pool of Bethesda were
cured, one by one. The cure was experienced by the fhst that stepped
in after the troubling of the Avaters. Fhst as to thne, spirituaUy means
first as to state, or that which is the principal object of our thoughts
and desires. The first that steps m is the infirmity that has been

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 117
brought most under our notice and control, and is therefore most ready
to yield to the influence that is brought to act upon the mind.
5. But amongst the great multitude lymg waiting at the pool of
Bethesda, there Avas a certain man which had an infirmity thirty and
eight years. If the multitude of impotent folk are types of our numer
ous inflrmities, what infirmity does this man represent ? He represents
that infirmity which is the greatest of aU our infirmities, our rMing
love, our dominant evU, the sin that doth so easUy beset us. This
love, as the thhty-eight years' duration of the poor man's malady hn-
plies, contains m itseU the conjunction of what is evil and false,
and has its root both in the AviU and understandmg. It forms our
very self, that wMch forms the root of our unregenerate nature. And
long and painful is the struggle before it is removed.
6. But dehverance from this evil comes at length to those who pa
tiently strive and Avait. When Jesus saw Mm lie, and knew that he
had been now a long time in that ease, he saith unto him. Wilt thou be
made whole ? When the Scripture speaks of the Lord seemg and
knowing what is m or of us, the spiritual meaning is, that Ave see and
knoAv from the Lord what is in or of ourselves. TMs is the Mghest
kind or degree of knowledge, and is inward perception. The voice of
the Lord speaks inwardly in the heart, saying. Wilt thou be made
whole ?
7. To the Lord's question, the man gives not a direct answer, but
says. Sir, Ihave no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the
pool : but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. The
predominant feeling and idea in the mind, wMch has a perception of
its own sinfM state, is that of its own mabUity and helplessness, and
even of its bemg left unaided. He had no man to put hhn into the
pool. He knew not as yet that in Jesus he at last had found the Man
for whom he had so long Avaited and so often sighed — the Divme
Man, in whom is aU help. But this sense of Ms own helplessness and
destitution prepared the way for his dehverance. He had often, un
aided, attempted to reach the pool ; but whUe he was coming, another
stepped down before him. Feeble and Avithout help, he would, but for
the Lord's coming to Ms rehef, have remained uncured. We can
hardly faU to notice in this miracle a feature which is common to
many, and is perhaps to be understood of all, that the Lord performed
cures which others had been unable to effect. He came to do for man
kind what they had been unable to do for themselves or for each other.
He came to do for them, as theh Redeemer, even what he had been
unable to do for them as their Creator. He came to bring down to

118 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
their necessities that power and those virtues which could find no
adequate channel but in a human nature like their own. This new
manifestation of the divine power and virtue was especiaUy needed, to
enable men to conquer and remove theh deeper evUs, as maladies
beyond the reach of aU human physicians. And such was the malady
with which this man was afflicted.
8. Jesus saith unto him. Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. A deep
sense of our own helplessness is the very means of opening the heart
for the reception of help from the Lord — help that comes to us rather
in deed than in Avord, for it comes to our experience. This manner of
showing his power is not uncommon, but most interestmg. Under
stood of the soul instead of the body, to rise is to rise above eartMy mto
heaveMy states of thought and affection ; to take up the bed, is to raise
doctrine and faith from a persuasion to a principle ; and to walk, is to
Uve accordmg to the divine commandments from charity and faith
united. 9. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed.,
and walked. The performance of the acts commanded signify effect,
which makes the command a deed, and thus a blessing ; but it adds,
that on the same day was the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day on
Avhich Jesus performed many beneficent works, because it rep)resented
a state of spiritual rest after states of confiict and labour, peace after
warfare, joy after suffermg. It was the type of salvation and heaven.
The Lord's performing so many of His Avorks of mercy on the Sabbath,
is an evidence that even the Jewish Sabbath was never intended as a
day of absolute inactivity, but was rather a day m which cessation from
servUe and interested labour should give time and opportunity for free
and disinterested work, or Avorks of love and mercy. More important
stUl is it as a testimony to the truth, that the Christian Sabbath is a
clay for works of spiritual love and mercy ; and that the Sabbath of
eternal rest which remains for the people of God, is not a monotonous
life of vocal praise and thanksgivmg, but is a life of the most active
love to one another, and to aU the children of God, as they exist in the
unnumbered worlds which the Lord created and has redeemed.
10. The other and negative side of the subject noAv presents itself
The Jews, made the carrying of the bed, and the performance of this
cure on the Sabbath, a ground of persecution. To the man they
objected. It is not luwfid for thee to carry thy bed. TMs act Avould
seem, indeed, to have been inconsistent with the JeAvish laAv, AvMch
prohibited the carrying of a burden on the Sabbath day (Jer. xvn. 21).
As Lord of the Sabbath, and on the principle that the Sabbath was

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 119
made for man and not man for the Sabbath, Jesus had told the man to
carry Ms bed. We see the difference here between acts that proceed
from the newness of the Sphit, and acts that proceed from the oldness
of the letter ; and the truth of the declaration, that the letter killeth,
but the Spirit giveth life. Not oMy does this contrariety exist in the
church in an imperfect or degenerate state, but m ourselves as imper
fect and degenerate bemgs. Our own natural minds are opposed to
the principles of heaven, even after those principles have obtained
the consent of the inner man. It may, however, be usefM to look
at the subject, iu what now foUows, as it relates to individuals rather
than to principles. The Jews had come to regard the letter of the law,
not oMy without, but in opposition to, its sphit. Zealous for the out
ward observance of tbe Sabbath, they violated the sanctity of wMch
the Sabbath was instituted to be the means and the type. The Sab
bath is most honoured when it is employed m works of mercy, espe
ciaUy when done m the highest interests of humanity. TMs did our
Lord. This shoMd the disciple do. We have Seen there is a sphitual
meanmg in the act wMch the Jcavs condemned. To take up the bed
and waUt, means to elevate doctrine out of the understanding mto the
wiU, and live accordmg to it. This is the same as raising it out of the
letter into the spirit. The doctrine respecting the Sabbath, for exam
ple, is a bed on wMch we he, wMle that day is considered to be holy in
itself, and to be sanctified by our outward observance. But this doc
trine is elevated into the -wUl — the bed is taken up — when the Sabbath
is regarded and used for exercising the graces of mercy and charity for
the elevation of the prostrate faculties of ourselves and others ; when,
in fact, worship becomes an act of life and not merely of devotion.
To carry the bed on the Sabbath, in the Christian and spiritual sense,
is lawful, and is in fact mvolved in the command to keep it holy, be
cause there is stUl more sanctity in mercy than in piety. " I wiU have
mercy, and not sacrifice." " To obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams." If we vieAv tMs subject still more
interiorly, and take the antitype — the holy state Avhich the Sabbath
typifies — then we may see still more clearly that taking up and carry-
mg that whereon we previously lay, bearing that Avhioh had borne us,
is one of the deeds and signs of our having entered on the higher and
better state.
11, 12. The aU-sufficient reason for this, and answer to aU objections
and suggestions against it are contained in the man's answer to Ms
Jewish objectors : He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take
up thy bed, and walk. He who gives health and strength must be best

120 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V
able to direct us how to use them. The abUity to do the greater
implies the right to do the less. He who restores my soul, shaU he
not direct my steps ? Those who have received inward grace look at
the law from Avithin, and act according to it as interpreted by the
spirit ; but those who are under the law look at it from Avithout, and
act according to the dead letter. The Jews who (Ud not enter into the
spirit of the laAv, demanded of the restored invaUd, What man is he
that said unto thee, Tcdce up thy bed and walk? This expresses the con
dition of the natural man : not principle but authority is his guide.
How much are all under this servitude to personalities and names.
But the JcAvs did not accept the authority of Jesus, and wished to
know who had done the miracle, only that they nught accuse and
condemn Him. They made no account of the beneficent work wMch
the Lord had performed ; all its Avorth Avas lost to them by the ch
cumstance, that it was done on the Sabbath-day. " Is it not lawfM to do
Avell on the Sabbath-days?" This is a question which Christians as
Avell as Jews should be prepared to answer. The Sabbath, under the
JeAvish economy, Avas more typical than real. We observe it most
worthUy when we use it, as our Lord did, m works of mercy to the
bodies, and especiaUy to the souls of men.
1 3. And he that was healed wist not who it was : for Jesus hud con
veyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. This chcum
stance, wMch is not the oMy one of the kmd in the gospel, has
several important pomts. How beautiful are the facts and the lesson,
in Jesus bestowing Ms blessings, as it were, with an unseen hand, Avith-
drawmg himself from the multitude of spectators, and leaving even
the object of Ms mercy without the knowledge of Ms benefactor !
How great a lesson is this, to do good for its own sake. But the
manner of his leaving the scene of Ms great miracle is deservino- of
attention. The difference in the manner of his withdraAving himseU
from the sensible presence of men, before and after Ms resurrection,
is very striking. The relation gives us the idea of Ms removal
bemg, before Ms glorification, natural ; of being, after Ms glorification,
supernatural. After his resurrection he appears in an instant in the
midst of his disciples, the doors bemg shut ; and in breaking bread
with his disciples at Emmaus, he vanishes out of their sight, or ceases
in a moment to be seen of them. These simple relations show how
different was his humanity, before and after he had passed throun-h
death. His resurrection body being no longer material, but Divine.
But to return to the sphitual lesson wMch the present chcumstance
teaches. The man knew not that it was Jesus who had healed Mm,

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 121
Jesus having conveyed himself aAvay through the multitude. The
state here represented is that of one Avho has received neAv health, but
Avhose natural thoughts and feehngs are not yet in harmony Avitli
his spiritual aflections and perceptions. Those are the multitude; and
like the multitude they are disposed to tumiUt and opposition. There
is a laAv in the members Avarring against the law of the mmd. The
Lord therefore conveys himself away : he rethes from the croAvd of
dissentient and turbulent feelings into the interiors of the mmd, tUl
he can manifest Mmself to the restored faculties of the regenerated
man. 14. The opportuMty of doing this in due time comes. Afterwurd
Jesus findeth him in the temple. The object and the Author of the
miracle meet in the temple ; a holy state of Avorship opens the mind
for the manifestation of the Divine Restorer of our mercies, and en
ables us to connect the gift with the Giver. Jesus revealed himself
in dehvering to the man a great lesson : Tliou art mude whole : sin
no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. Any one who returns to
sins, after havmg been delivered from them, profanes the holy gifts he
has received, and faUs mto a deeper state of evU and guilt than before.
This does not arise from the fact, important as it is, that we sin pre
sumptuously against the great and good Being who delivered us, but
because, by returning to a shi which had been forsaken, Ave AviUuUy
destroy the good that had taken its place, and cause the evU to take
deeper root than it previously had in the mind. This, mdeed, is the
sm of profanation, AvMch, m its worst form, cannot be forgiven, not
because the Lord is unwiUmg to forgive, but because he is unable to
remove it. The Lord removes evil in us by means of good — good
which he himself has implanted in our hearts ; but if we destroy that
good, nothing remams by which his saving power can work salvation
m us. We may think that free grace and omnipotence can do any
tMng. They can do anything that is consistent with divine order,
but nothmg that is inconsistent with the eternal laws that govern
and uphold the worlds of mind and matter. In saying there are
some things God cannot do, it may seem that we deny Ms omm-
potence. If we say that he can and does not, do we not impeach his
goodness? 15. The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus which
hud mude Mm whole. We cannot suppose that the man told the
Jews for the purpose of enabling them to direct theh enmity against
¦Jesus, but rather to proclaim his power, and advance Ms glory.
But the natural mind and the natural man are ever disposed and

122 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
ready to pervert knowledge and influx into compUance with its OAvn
ends. 16. Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to kill Mm,
because he had done these things on the Subbuth-day. On another
similar occasion Jesus appealed to their own practice, in justification
of his doing such deeds of mercy aud goodness on the Sabbath-day.
If a sheep feU mto a pit they Avould puU Mm out on the Sabbath ?
How much is a man better than a sheep ? They were Uke natural
zealots m aU ages, whose practice it has ever been to persecute for non
conformity to theh own dogmas and superstitions, good being no
protection to him who does it out of the dogmatic way, but rather the
ground of greater hatred and opposition. The opposition here repre
sented is that of evU against good : for the " Jews " are the types of
evU, and " Jesus " is a name for the Divine Good. The opposition
here described proceeds both from evU and its falsity, and is dhected
against both good and its truth, for falsehood persecutes truth, and
evil seeks to slay goodness.
17. The Lord's answer to these enemies of him and his works leads
us into some of the highest truths that the gospel contains, wMch
teach the relation of Jesus to the Father. The Lord meets theh oppo
sition to him as the worker of this miracle on the Sabbath, by saying.
My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Tbe great truth wMch the
Lord here delivered demands our serious attention. The nature of
the distmction avMcIi .exists between the Father and the Son, and the
Avork m wMch they, first the Father and then the Son, had engaged,
it is most important Ave should understand. The truth may best be
conveyed by a simple statement. The Father and the Son are the
divme and the human natures m the person of the Lord. This is the
simplest idea of the subject. It mvolves another — that the Father is
the principle of divine loA^e, and the Son is the principle of divine
wisdom. When the Lord said "The Father Avorketh hitherto," he
asserts that God had hitherto operated in his divine character of
Creator and Preserver, but that now he operated m his human character
of Redeemer and Saviour. The language of the Lord is very striking
m one respect. He speaks of his OAvn and his Father's work as bemg
on a perfect equality ; of the one as bemg a contmuation of the
other. This teaches us that tbe Lord's work in the flesh was a divine
work, and that it was necessary, in order to complete the chcle of divine
operations requhed for the eternal weUare of the human race. And,
indeed, the incarnation was simply a means for God dohig for his
creatures Avhat he could no longer do without it. They forsook Mm,

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 123
and he folloAved them. They became captives, and he came to deliver
them. " He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of
sah'ation upon his head ; and he put on the garments of vengeance
for clothing, and was clad Avith zeal as a cloak " (Isa. lix. 17). Jehovah
put on all these Avhen he put on humanity, and when he thus became
the Divine Truth in ultimates, to redeem men from the poAvers of heU,
and from the powers of evU. There is another sphere of this divine
operation. The Father is the divine love, and the Son is the divine
wisdom. In the work of human regeneration, which is the epitome
and the realization of aU the other divine Avorks, the divine love per
forms the early part, and the divine wisdom performs the later part.
The remams of love are first implanted in the mind ; and these remains
or germs of love are derived from, and implanted by, the divine love,
through the agency of angels, who are distinguished forms of love.
TMs is the work of the Father. And when the mind becomes fit for
the reception of wisdom, the Son takes up the work, and communicates
the germs of Avisdom. And these two operations, which are fhst suc
cessive, become eventuaUy simultaneous, and love and wisdom become
uMted in good Avorks. Love and Avisdom thus become one, even as
the Father and the Son are one.
18. The Lord's declaration stUl further exasperated the Jews. They
sought the more to kill him, because he had not only broken the Sab-
hath, hut said that God was his Father, making hinvself equal with
God. SpirituaUy, in saying that God Avas Ms Father, the Lord asserted
the divinity of his humanity : for the human became fully the Son of
the divine by glorification. This touth is opposed to every thought
and feeUng of the natural man, because it is itself the opposite of aU
naturaUsm. It was to make man sphitual that the Lord made his
humaMty divine ; and they who are opposed to spirituality in them
selves, must be stUl more opposed to divinity m Jesus. The deadly
enmity of the Jews against Jesus, is that which every natural man has
against the Lord, as the supreme good as weU as the supreme truth.
Even in the minds of the faithful this enmity of the Jews is realized
during the progress of regeneration. The reception of the Lord's good
ness hi Ms truth, wMch is the practical acknowledgment of the Father
in the Son, is most opposed to the evU of our nature, and cannot be
effected without temptation, by which these evUs are removed. ^
19. The Lord proceeds to show the necessity of acknoAvledging the
Father in the Son. Verily, I say unto you, the Son cun do nothing of
himself, but what he seeth the Father do : for what things soever the
Father doeth, these also doeth the Son Ukewise. This language cleariy

124 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
evinces, that the Father and the Son are not two persons, equal in
power and authority. Indeed, the language seems designed to prevent
such an idea being entertained. Hoav can we understand the Son
doing what he sees the Father do ; and the Father showing the Son
aU things that he does, that the Son may do MccAvise ? These Avords
must express another and a higher sense than that of the letter, except
as explained by true doctrine. When Ave understand the Lord's
human nature to be the Son, which it reaUy was, having been begotten
of God, Ave can see it to be certainly and necessarUy true, that the Son
could do nothing of himself, just as the body can do nothing without
the soul. Or, when Ave understand the Son to mean the cUvme truth,
Ave can see it to be certainly and necessarily true, that this can do
nothing of itself, for truth derives aU its power from goodness, or, Avhat
is the same, wisdom derives aU its power from love, just as the imder-
standmg derives all its power from the wiU, and Ught aU its power,
and mdeed its very existence, from heat. But the Lord speaks of the
Son seeing ¦wha.t the Father does, and then doing like him.. Seeing
signifies perception. The Lord's human perceptions Avere derived from
his indwelhng divinity, and were the diAine perceptions m the hu
manity, just as the body sees, and hears, and feels, from the soM, or
the soul by the body. On the same prmciple the perceptions of truth
are from goodness, as those of wisdom are from love : indeed Avisdom
is love seeing ; divine Avisdom is the all-seeing power of divme love.
It appears further, from the Lord's words, that the Son does oMy Avhat
he sees the Father do ; his Avorks are a repetition of the Father's works.
Beautifully and edifyingly true is tMs. The human nature of the
Lord did notMng but what Avas first done in his divine nature ; just as
the human body does nothing but Avhat is first done in the mind ; for
the acts of the body are a copy, a repetition, m a loAver sphere, of the
acts of the mind. They are different, it is true, in their form : the
acts of the mmd are volitions and thoughts, the acts of the body are
deeds and words ; yet these are nothmg but the acts of the mind re
produced. It is the same Avith the understanding and the avUI. The
understanding does nothing but what it sees the wUl do. Every act
of thought is but the perception and repetition in the intellect of some
act of affection Avhich has been done in the wUl. Such, both m God
and in his image, man, are the poAvers from AvMch, and the order
according to which, all action proceeds.
20. Having spoken of the Son seeing what the Father does, the Lord
now spea,ks of the Father, from his love for the Son, showing Mm
whatever things he does. The Father loveth the Son, and sheweth

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 125
him all things that himself doeth . and he will shew him greater things
than these, that ye may marvel. The Father is the diAine love itself,
and the divine wisdom is the object of that love. Wisdom is the
offspring of love, as thought is of affection, and light of heat. But
Avheit divine hispiration says that the Father loves the Son, it not only
means that Avisdom is the object, but that it is the subject, of love ;
that the divine love dAveUs in the divme wisdom, and is the very love
and life of that wisdom. For love is wisdom's and wisdom is love's.
In the language of the Word, the Son is m the Father and the Father
in the Son. And as the Father loves the Son, he shews him aU that
he Mmself doeth. Love communicates to wisdom the perception of
all its ends and purposes, that wisdom may work them out. For
God's love does notMng but by Ms wisdom, as his wisdom does nothing
but from his love. Love and wisdom are distinct in God, but they
cannot be separated, either in essence or in act. The Lord proceeds
to say to the Jews that, besides shewing the Son the works which they
saw him do, the Father would sheAV hhn stUl greater works, that they
might marvel. The Lord did afterwards perform greater works than
these, including that of Ms own resurrection ; but the greater works
wMch he promised were the divine and sphitual Avorks, of which these
were the types or the signs ; fhst, the stupendous work of Ms OAvn
glorification, as completed m Ms resurrection, and, secondly, the re
generation or sphitual resurrection of man.
21. The works of which the Lord spoke he proceeds to mention.
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so
the Son quickeneth whom he loill. It is hardly necessary to say that
our Lord speaks of the resurrection of souls, not of bodies, of souls
dead m trespasses and sms. Two distinct acts are mentioned ; and of
these, the first is, drawmg men away from evil, Avhich is sphituaUy to
raise them from the dead ; the second is, to lead them mto good, wMch
is to quicken them, or make them aUve ; for evU is spiritual death,
and good is sphitual life. There is another truth contained in this
declaration. In the supreme sense, the Father raised up the dead,
when the divinity raised up the humanity from the dead, at the Lord's
resurrection ; and by this finished work, the Son can now quicken
whom he wiU. In this quickening work both Father and Son are
stUl engaged ; for divine love Avorks m the heart, which is the wUl,
giving Ufe to the affections, and divine wisdom works m the under
standing, giving Ufe to the thoughts; thus bestowing the new Ufe of
charity and faith.
22. Although the Father as weU as the Son raiseth up the dead,

126 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
yet the Father judgeth no mun, but huth committed all judgment unto
the Son. Another proof have we here that the Father and Son are not
separate persons, but distinct essentials of the divine nature. We
cannot, consistently with the unity of God, think of one divine person
judging, AvhUe another has no share in the work. His judgmg makes
it evident, mdeed, that Jesus is divine ; for who but the omniscient
can judge mankind? But it equally sIicavs, that judgment is the
function of a pecuhar essential of the deity, of which the Son is the
name. AU judgment is performed by divine truth or wisdom, not by
divme good or love. Love judges no man. Love is never absent
from divine judgment, for aU judgment is tempered Avith mercy ; but
truth is that which judges ; truth it is wMch (Uscerns the thoughts
and intents of the heart, and is sharper than a two-edged sword, to
separate even to the dividing asunder of the jomts and marrows.
But the Lord's work of judgment includes the whole work of redemp
tion. It relates especially to the separation of the good and the evU, and
the adjustment of the balance between heaven and heU, and the conse
quent restoration of freedom to the human will, so as to enable man to
choose between them. It is only necessary to add that judgment is
a work effected in every regenerate mind, and consists in (Usceming
and separating evU from good, and falsehood from truth. TMs act is
not done by the judge alone. He judges us when we, by Ms truth,
judge ourselves. Thus judgment is not a sentence pronounced upon
us, but a work of decision and separation effected m us, a separation
between good and CAil, truth and error.
23. And now comes the purpose of this judgment, which is, Tliat
all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father. Equal
honour implies equal dignity, and equal dignity impUes equal divmity.
Supposing the Father and the Son to be two distinct persons, but
equal as to divinity, how avouM it be possible to honour one more or
less than another ? In honouring one, we should honour the other, for
the honour we render to God, if it be true honour, is not, properly
speaking, rendered to his person, but to Ms nature, thus to Ms
attributes and character. But when Ave understand the Father and
the Son to be the Lord's Divinity and Humanity, and his Love and
Wisdom, we can see how it is possible to honour one more and another
less, and hoAv necessary it is to honour the Son as we honour the
Father. The Lord's humamty is to be honoured with the honour due
to his divinity. Jesus is to be honoured as Jehovah ; God is to be
AA'orsMpped in Jesus Christ ; the Creator in the Redeemer. It is oMy
in Ms humanity that God cpu be worshipped and honoured. There is

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 127
no God out of CMist. " I am in the Father and the Father hi me."
By glorification the divine became human, and the human (Uvine.
All judgment is exercised by the humaMty — the Word made flesh,
and divine honour is to be rendered to him. He that honoureth not
the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Mm. The human
came forth from the DiAine, and is the Divine made accessible to man.
Those who approach and worsMp the Divme out of or without the
Human, are they who climb up another than the true way to God
and heaven.
24. The Lord still further presses this great truth on the attention
of Ms hearers. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my
word and believeth on him that sent me, huth everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. To
hear the word of Jesus is to receive Ms truth into the heart ; thence
comes true and Uving faith ; for behef m the Father is belief in which
the Father is — faith grounded in love. This is the faith that saves,
for it has everlasting hfe or heaveMy goodness iu it, and is opposed to
evU as the cause of condemnation. This state of goodness has been
acqmred by overcommg and renouncing evU, and such a one has passed
from death unto life.
25. The blessed effect of the Lord's redemption in givmg life is now
described. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Tlie hour is coming, and
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice ofthe Son of God: and they
that hear shall live. The sphitiially dead are here evidently meant,
and sphitual life is that wMch they were about to receive. It does
not relate to a uMversal resurrection, for not aU, but they oMy that
hear the Lord's voice shaU Uve, that is, those who receive the Lord's
truth in love and faith shaU have eternal life. This raismg of the
dead was, in the Mstorical sense, the general revival Avhich was to be
the result of the Lord's work of redemption. Hiuuanity was, by the
power of the Lord's resurrection, to rise from the state of spiritual
death hi which it had for long ages been lying. But this is oMy part
of a restoration which is spoken of further on, where it wiU be more
fuUy considered.
26, 27, And here agam a reason, but a different one from the former,
is given. For as the Father hath life in hitnself; so hath he given to
the Son to have life in himself. This is a remarkable declaration.
Life in Mmself is underived and independent life. But how could
such Ufe be given and received ? Not certamly by one person and to
another. Nor could it be given by an mfinite to a finite nature.
Had the humanity of Jesus been the same as that of another man, he

128 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
could not have received, because he coMd not have contained, infinite
Ufe. The infinite capacity of the humanity was a consequence of its
ha-ving been begotten by the infinite. The human body can fuUy
receive the life of the human soul, because both are finite. The
Humanity of the Lord coMd fuUy receive the life of Ms Divimty,
because by bhth it was iuAvardly, and by glorification it was made
fuUy, divine. And Avhen the Father gave his life to the Son, he gave
himself also. The divine essence is mdivisible. It could oMy have
been given in such a way as to preserve its unity. The divine life
coMd oMy be given by the Father to the Son, and received by the
Son from the F'ather, as the soM commuMcates its life to the body,
and as the body receives Ufe from the soM. Life is not transferred
from the one to the other. It is as much the property of the soM,
a-fter the body is quickened by it, as it was before ; the body lives by
vhtue of its connection with the soM. In man's case the life both of
soul and body is finite. With the Lord, life was infinite. When tMs
life was communicated to the humanity, in the humanity it was
infiMte also. " God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him." There
can be no clearer evidence of the divinity of the Lord's humanity than
this. Nor is there any difficulty in understanding so high a subject
with sufficient clearness to form the ground of a reasonable faith, for Ave
have its finite image in ourselves. The power to execute judgment is
derived from this life. In bringing them together the Lord shows
their connection ; for life is of love, and judgment is of truth. When
Jesus declares that the Father had given him life and power to execute
judgment also, he teaches us that his humanity received from his
diviMty both infinite love and infinite Avisdom, and thus the power of
givmg both life to the human will and faith to the human under
standing. 28, 29. A further effect of his redeeming work is described. Mm-vel
not ut this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their
graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that huve done
good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto
the resurrection of damnation. This does not refer to a resurrection
of the material bodies of mankind at tbe end of the Avorld, but to a
resurrection of the spiritual bodies of men at the end of the Church.
In the internal historical sense, these Avords, and those in the twenty-
fifth verse, relate to the general judgment in the spiritual world, which
the Lord performed after his resurrection. This judgment was per
formed on all who had died during the dispensation AvMch preceded
the Lord's Advent, and who were I'eserved in the Avorld of spirits, or

Cuap. V.] ST. JOHN. 129
intermediate state, tUl the time of decision. These are meant by the
dead and by those in the graves to whom the Lord's voice Avas to be
addressed. These could hear tlie voice of the Lord, and rise up and
coniu forth ; but can the same be said of the scattered dust of eartMy
tabernacles? Those Avho Avere to come forth from their graves, as
mentioned here, are the same as the saints that slept, Avho arose and
came out of their opened graves after the Lord's resurrection (Matt
xxvii.). That Avas a transaction which took place in the spiritual
Avoiid, where aU the dead are, and Avhere all judgment takes place.
It is true that not only the dead, but the buried are spoken of But
Avliy shoMd this distinction be made ? It is considered by some that
tbe dead spoken of at verse 25 mean the spiritually dead, AvliUe those
here mentioned as being in their graves mean the naturaUy dead.
This is hardly consistent. The dead and the buried are but tAvo classes
of the same persons, in the same place ; the persons being those Avho
had died on earth, aud the place being the spiritual Avorld, where all
the dead are raised, and Avhere all assemble for judgment. The grave
is frequently mentioned in Scripture in a figurative sense, to describe the
state of those who are in bondage and Avait for deliverance. Such are
the dead and the buried of whom the Lord speaks in the present
instance. The dead are those who Avere of a more spiritual character,
Avhile those m the grave are as men in a more natural or sensual state.
Both classes consisted of good and bad ; for the salvation of both is
spoken of as partial ; but a larger proportion was saved of the first
than the second. That the first were of a more spiritual character
than the second, appears also from the circumstance that the Lord,
AA'hen he speaks of addressing the first, calls himself the Son of God,
but in respect to the last he calls himself the Son of Man. And these
names are expressive of the Lord's spiritual and natural truth, the voice
of the Son of God being the utterance and operation of truth, such as
it is in the spiritual sense of the Avord, and the voice of the Son of
Man bemg the utterance and operation of truth, such as it is in the
hteral sense. These two statements respecting those who are dead and
those who are in their graves have also reference, like every part of
the Word, to the regeneration of man, and to the regeneration of every
man in particular. The first relates to the regeneration of the internal,
the second to that of the external. In this apphcation, those to whom
the voice is addressed are not persons but principles, the thoughts and
affections of the mind. The thoughts and affections of the internal
man, which receive the Lord's truth and love, are those Avho hear the
voice of the Son of God and live ; and those of the external mar;
I

130 ST, JOHN. [Chap. V.
which receive His truth and bring it forth into act, are they Avho hear
the voice of the Son of Man and come forth unto the resurrection of
life ; while those Avho do not bring forth the Lord's truth into act are
they who come forth unto the resurrection of condemnation. More
interiorly and strictly understood, those to whom the Lord's voice is
addressed are the truths that have been received by men from the
Avritten Word. When man is about to be regenerated, the Lord caUs
forth these truths, in order to inspire them Avith the life of love. Such
as admit love are made alive, and are raised up ; but such as do not
admit love remain dead, and are cast out. But truths are not cMy
vivified, they are arranged, and brought into a harmonious relation to
each other, so as to be in heavenly order. This arrangement of truths
is included in judgment. There is thus a double gUt and a double
work of Avhicli the Lord speaks, both Avith reference to himself and
his Church — the gift of life and the gUt of judgment Avhich he had re
ceived from the Father, Ms work of vivifying and judging the jieople.
30. The distinction Avhioh the Lord makes in the Avords Ave have
just considered, he uoav states in another Ava}^ I can of mine own
self do notMng : as I hear, I judge : and my judgment is just ; because
I seek not m,ine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
What the Lord here says again, can only be understood Avhen the Father
and Son are seen to be the human and the divine nature, the divine truth,
and the divme good. The human could do nothing of itself Avithout
the divine, as the body can do nothing of itself Avithout the soul :
truth can do nothing of itself Avithout good, as the understanding can
do nothing of itself without the AviU. When Jesus says, " As I
hear, I judge," can we understand him to speak of hearing and judging
in the ordmary sense ? There is a difference betAveen this and a former
declaration, Avhich deserves our attention. At Averse 19, Jesus says,
" The Son can do nothing of Mmself, but Avliat he seeth the Ftither
do : " here he says that he judges as he hears. Seeing has more
relation to the understanding, hearing to the Avill ; in respect to
the Lord, seeing relates to Ms wisdom, liearmg to his love. Noav,
doing is an act of the avUI, judging is an act of the understanding.
But that the will may act rightly, it must be guided by the under
standing, or, that love may act rightly, it must be guided by wisdom ;
therefore Jesus acts as he sees the Father act. Ou the other hand,
that Avisdom may judge justly, it must be influenced by love ; there
fore the Lord Jesus judges as he hears, that is, hears the Father. The
Lord, for this reason, proceeds to say, " My judgment is just, bocausa
I seek not mine own Avill, but the Avill of him that sent me." The

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 131
divine wUl is the divine love ; and Avisdom judges justly, because it
judges from loA-e. Truth or intellect is indeed that Avhich judges, but
truth or intellect alone is the unjust judge. Justice belongs to love
aud goodness ; and unless this enters into and presides over judgment,
there can be no just decision. The Lord several times speaks of his
own wUl as distinct from, and even opposed to, the F"'ather's Avill. So
far as his human nature Avas unglorified, its Avill Avas opposed to the
AviU of his divine nature. But, even during this state, the human will
always submitted itseU to the divine. " Not my Avill but thine
be done,'' Avas the language of tbe Saviour. But this was the case
also Avith tbe Lord, considered as divine Truth. He came not to do
as Truth AvUled, but as Good AvUled. Truth, too, can do nothing
AAithout Good ; nor judge justly alone. Truth condemns all men to
hell, good raises all men to heaven. It is on this ground that the
Lord came not to do his OAvn Avill, but the vtill of him that sent him.
He came not to condemn, but to save, not to judge, but to have
mercy. He came not to do his oavu avUI, but the will of the Father.
The hereditary wiU of his maternal humanity Avas of the same nature
as the natural wiU of another man ; and this Avill must have submittetl
itself to the wUl of the F"'ather, siuce Avithout this there could be uo
salvation. 31, 32. Not only is truth alone incapable of judging justly, but it
is incapable of testifying truly. It cannot by itself witness of itself ;
Avhich our Lord declared Avlien he said, If I bear witness of myself, my
witness is not true. We have had occasion to speak of this .subject,
and have remarked, that truth is its oavu Avitness, and carries its oavu
testimony Avith it. There are, hoAvever, tAvo Avitnesses to all truth,
the intellectual aud the moral. Intellectual testimony is that Avhich
the truth bears to itself, moral testimony is that which good bears to
the truth. Intellectual testimony appeals to the understanding, moral
testimony appeals to the heart. The first is the witness of the Son,
the second is the Avitness of the Father ; the first is the Avitness of '
truth, the second is the witness of love. Therefore, said our Lord,
There is another that heareth witness of me; and I knoio that the
witness which he witnesseth of me is true.
33-35. The Lord says to the Jews, Ye sent unto John, und he hare
witness unto the truth. But I receive not testimony from mun : but
these things I say, that ye might be saved. He tous a burning and a
shining light: and ye loere willing for a season to rejoice in his light.
John testified of Jesus, that being from above, he was above all.
Eminent as John was, Jesus did not rest his claim upon John's testi-

132 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
mony. But hoAv is this to be understood with respect to the Word,
Avhich John represented ? The Word, hke the Lord, is sometimes
spoken of not as it is in itself, but as it is, and is understood, in the
minds of men. Not the Word, but the human conception of Avhat it
reveals and testifies, is that which the Lord here speaks of. Therefore,
he says, " I receive not testimony from man." What is of man, or
what is derived from man's oavu intelligence, contributes nothing to
the testimony of the truth. Only that which is diAine can testify of
the Divine. What is merely human, in our conception of Truth divine,
lends no support to the Lord's kingdom within us. The Lord does not
therefore mean that all human testimony respecting him is to be re
jected ; he means that Avhat is divine carries its oavu testimony Avitii
it, and that man, from himself, can add nothing to its fuMess and per
fection. This may be said of the letter of the Word, which John
specifically represented. Not the letter, but the sphit in the letter, is
the living and convincing witness of the truth. And as the Lord
himself is that spirit, he is the living and true Avitness. The Avritten
Avord teaches the truth, the incarnate Avord convinces of the truth.
Knowledge comes by an external Avay, conviction by an mternal. " It
is the Spirit that quickeneth, the fiesh profiteth nothing." The Jews
themselves were Avitnesses to the truth of this. They sent unto John,
and he bare witness unto the truth ; yet these very persons were uoav
seeking to kill Jesus, because he had healed a man ou the Sabbath-
day, and UOAV said that God was his Father. WliUe the Lord reproved
the Jews because they thus rejected the testimony of John, he told
them these things respecting himself, that they might believe. None
can be forced to believe, but the means of belief, both by the teacMii"
of the Word and the influence of the Spirit, are mercifully provided.
The Word is ever teaching, the Spirit is ever striving ; but where the
heart is hardened by hypocrisy or sin, even these may fad to convince.
Early and partial impressions may be made, only to be foUoAved by a
more complete rejection and bitter hatred of the truth. So the Lord
says to the Jews, "John Avas a burning and a shining li.ght;" for both
the love and the truth of God are' revealed in the Word, and Avere
shown by John — although we are here reminded that, compared Avith
him Avho is the hght of the world, John Avas but a lamp, not the
author of light, but the instrument, by Avhom it Avas revealed. The
.Jews were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But as the seed
.sown in stony ground, where there is not much deepness of earth,
.suddenly springs up and as suddenly dies aAvay ; even so, many who
rejoiced in John's Ught, were uoav desirous to quench the Light itself

C-1AP. v.] ST. JOHN.

133

as manifested in the person of Jesus. And thus it is spiritually witii
those who, like them, loA^e themselves and the Avorid as the supreme
and only good of hfe.
36. But tbe Lord stiid, / have greater witness than tlmt of John :
for the toorks which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works
that I do, bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me The Lord
justiy appealeil to his Avorks, in evidence of his having proceeded from
the Father, and of being himself the Father, clothed in human nature;
for, as he declared, " the F'ather that dwelleth in me, he doeth the
Avorks." The mighty AA'orks which the Lord performed Avere the mani
festations, and therefore the evidences, of his eternal poAver and God
head. But there are Avorks of Avhich these were but the symbols,,
AA'orks of Avhich the soul is the subject, and salvation the fruit. And
these are evidences of the poAver of the Father in the Son, or of divine-
love bemg manifested and operative in divine truth. And these
Avorks, by producing uoav life in the soul, carry their OAA'n internal
evidence Avith them ; for ucav life is the ground of new and saving faith.
37. Besides the evidence of the works performed from the Father,
the Fcdher himself Imth borne witness of Jesus. This is supposed to
refer to the Father's testimony at the Lord's baptism. If so, it is
singular that the Lord should add ; Ye huve neither heard his voice at
any time nor seen his .shape. This has been felt to be a difficult passtige.
It has been supposed to mean that the Joavs had not hearkened to
and obeyed the voice of God, as uttered iu the Scriptures. But this
is inconsistent Avith the next part of the statement, that they had not
seen his shape. The voice and the shape are connected as of like
nature. The Lord's words are no doubt to be understood like similar
records in the Old Testament. There we read of their seeing God
face to f -xe, and yet are told that no one can see God and live. Israel
saw God, but they saw him, not as he is in himself, but as he made
himself A'isible to them in the person of an angel, who is hence
caUed the angel of Ms presence. So Avith the voice of God ; it came,
and must have come, to men, tMough a fiuite medium. The grand
medium through wMch the Father Avas seen and heard Avas the Son —
the humanity he assumed. Those Avho saw and heard him saAV and
heixrd the Father. " No man hath seen God at any time : the only-
begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared
him." SpirituaUy understood the Lord's words contain a spiritual
lesson. The divine love never comes or can come directly to the pei-
ceptions of the human mind ; it can oMy reach our faculties m and
through the divine truth; this- alone gives it the voice and shape that

134 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
make it visible to men. Jesus is at once the form and the voice of
God. The Lord speaks of Ms works being those which the Father
had given him to finish. When Jesus said, " The Father worketh
hitherto and I Avork," he intimated that the Incarnation Avas for the
purpose of finishing divine works, Avhich had been begun before the
manifestation of God in the flesh. The Lord can never have been but
a Saviour and Redeemer, as he is frequently called in the Old Testa
ment, in reference to the people, then and previously existing. The
Avorks which the Lord performed in the flesh, were the completion of
¦ Avorks, which had been in progress since the fall of mau. The Word
AvMch was then made flesh had been not only the creative, but the
enlightening poAver of the Deity. Many, Avho had died in the faith,
were in the world of spirits, as prisoners of hope, Avaiting for the
finishing of that Avork .by which they had been saved, that they might
obtain deliverance, through the power of the Lord's resurrection, and
ascend with him, at his ascension into heaven.
38. The Lord states to the Jcavs the real cause of theh conduct
towards him — Ye have not his word abiding in you. They had not
the mAvard Avitness, therefore whom he huth sent, him ije believe
not. How necessary to have the Avord of the Father abiding in us,
the living Avord dAveUing m our hearts ! Without tMs there can be no
livmg faith in the truth Avhich is ever proceeding from Ms love to
bring us to himself. " No man can come to me except the Father
which hath sent me draw him :" no one comes believingly to the
truth of God, unless he is draAvn to it by the love of Gcd.
39-42. How is this loA'e to be obtained? how is the Avord of the
Father to be acquired? We cannot answer these questions tUl Ave
know the meaning of the words Avliich the Lord uoav addresses to the
Jews. We are accustomed to understand the Lord's Avords as a com
mand when he says, Seurch the Scriptures. This is not considereil by
.the best critics as the necessary or proper meaning. It is understood
-to be a statement that the Jews did search the Scriptures, and yet
could not or woMd not see the testimony of Jesus iu them. It is con
sidered that the passage should be read thus : Ye search the Scriptures,
and in them ye think ye have eternal life ; and tliey are they which
testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I
¦receive not honour from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love
of God in you. This want of the love of God in their hearts Avas the
•cause of their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, the Truth of Love. So
it is with others who search the Scriptures, and do not find a Saviour iu
them. Although they think they have in the sacred writings eternal life.

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 135
yet uMesfj they bring a lovmg heart to the investigation, theh minds
AvUl receive no light on the subject Avhich concerns their salvation and
eternal life. The Scriptures testify of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy ; and in the large sense all Scripture is pro
phetic of him, for he is the subject of its inmost sense. But we do
iiot here speak so much of the mere knoAvledge of the Lord. Chris
tians Avho have found the personal Christ, may yet search and yet not
find the living and saving CMist. It is indeed most necessary and
useful to Search the Scriptures, for Avhat can we kiioAv of the Lord
without them ? But Ave may search Avith no more real success than
the JcAvs, if Ave are liable to the same terrible accusation : " But I
knoAv you, that ye have not the love of God m you." This is the
cause of our " ever searching and never coming to the saving know
ledge of the truth."
43. W^hen such is the state of the heart, it rejects the true Chiist
and accepts the false. / am come in my Father's name, and ye re
ceive me not: if another shall come in his own name. Mm ye will
receive. It is evident from this that " name" has a larger and deeper
sigmtication than we are accustomed to give it. The name of a person
in authority is often, indeed, used to express the authority which be
longs to his office ; and one Avho comes aud speaks in his name, is one
AA'ho, for the time, is invested with his authority. VicAved m this
light, Jesus may be considered as having come invested with the
authority of Ms Father. The prophets thus came in the name of God.
Was Jesus only a prophet ? He was the Son of God. As such he
AA-as God. And being God, he Avas God alone ; for God is one. But
there is a more certain Avay to this conclusion, than through the forms
of school logic. Truth is light, and enables the mind to see ; and love
is heat, and gives the heart to feel. The Father and the Son are the
divine love and tbe divine Avisdom. Iu Jesus, divine Avisdom came
Avith tiie authority and poAver of divme love. But men did not receive
Mm. Why ? Because they had iu them and among them none of
that love Avhich disposes the mind to receive Avisdom. In Scripture, a
name means more than the authority of the person to Avhom it belongs;
it means his spirit and poAver, his nature and character. Jesus came
in Ms Father's uame, because he came as the divme wisdom of divine
love. He came to exhibit the divine character before men. His
words of wisdom were fiUed with tiie spirit of love ; his works of
power with the spirit of benevolence. His Father's name, the spirit
of love, was manifest in all his teaching, and in his whole life. His
life Avas evidently one of pure disinterestedness. The men of that age

136 ST. JOHN. [Chap. V.
no doubt praised such qualities. Why then did they not gather
around one Avho exhibited them in such perfection ? Because they
had an abstract admiration for such qualities, but had no practical
sympathy with them. There was no similarity of mind, no con
formity of character, betAveen them and .lesus. His Father Avas not
their Father. Comiii.g in his Father's luinie, they did not receive liiin.
If another shall come in his oavu name, him avUI they receive. One
comes in his own name, who comes not in the love of God, but m
the loA'e of himself. As those receive the teaching of divine loA'e Avho
are influenced by that love, those receive the teaching of human love,
Avhich is self-love, Avho are influenced by it. These come in a char
acter Avith Avhicli they can sympathize, and Avhose objects they can
approve. So has it ever been with fallen man, and so avUI it be AvhUe
men are corrupt. " All people Avill Avalk every one iu the name of Ms
god" (Micah iy. 4). Wliatever men Avorship they Avill follow. If the
object of their idolatry be self, the Avorld, or the flesh, they Avill listen,
as to an oracle, to whoever avUI preach their gospel. Nor is it necessary
that these gods should be preached openly. Among nominal Christians,
as among the Jcavs, teachers may come in their own name, even Avheu
they claim to come hi the name of Christ. But doctrines are teachers,
as well as men ; and these may indirectly inculcate the spirit of earthly
instead of heavenly loA^e and goodness.
44. The Lord comes to the root of their rejection of him. How can
ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek nut the honour
that cometh from God only ? Here the moral ground of unbelief is said
to be self-exaltation. Self-exaltation is the opposite of humility ; and
humUity is the soil in Avhich every Christian grace, and therefore the
grace of faith, is implanted and groAvs. Men are not blamed for
receiving honour one of another, but for receiving it to the exclusion
of that Avhich conies from God only. Religion requires that Ave render
honour to Avlioni honour is due. Wise men render and receive honour
as a means to a useful end ; unAvise men, as an end, and one Avhich
resides in themselves. God is the author of all true honour. The
honour that comes from God is the honour of virtue and smceiity,
received through the approval of a good conscience. This is the only
honour that is to be desired here, or that avUI avail us hereafter. And
the .-inly true honour that we can render to, or receive from each other,
is honour for what is of God in us ; so that the Lord is in truth the
object as AveU as the author of all true honour.
45, 46. Severe as are the Lord's judgments on the Jewish perse
cutors, yet the tenderness of his love is not less than the severity

Chap. V.] ST. JOHN. 137
of his truth. Do not think tlicd I loill accuse you to the Father. 0
divine forbearance aud forgiveness ! Hoav true the inspired Avords : " If
thou shouldest mark iniquity, Avho, 0 Lord, shoidd stand?" Yet it
does not foUoAV, that the AvickeJ can altogether escape. When the Lord
jtroclaimed himself merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, he yet declared that he Avould bj' no means clear the
.r,-uilty. Guilt cannot escape all penalty ; even infinite mercy can
not separate guilt and punishment. Although the Lord Avould not
accuse his enemies, but would pray for them, as he did upon the cross,
still he gave them the solemn Avarning, There is one tliat uccimsth you,
even Moses, in whom ye trust. The I^ord gives them the reason for
this : Hud ye believed. Moses, ye would have believed me : for he wrote
of me. They professed to be the disciples of Moses, and trusted hi
him, yet did not believe the greatest message he had delivered to them —
tbe coming of a prophet like unto himself, Avhom they Avere to hear.
]\loses, therefore, Avoultl be their accuser. Here Ave learn a laAv of
judgment, Avhicli includes all. We are judged by what Ave know, and
especially by Avliat Ave believe. Our condemnatitui arises from not belieA'-
ing what we kuov/^, or not domg what Ave believe. Our witness is
Avithin us, either for justification or condemnation. Moses is a Avitness
for Christ, and his testimony avUI be against the Jew who refuses to
ackuoAvledgc the Saviour. It is, therefore, because the Jews do not
believe Moses, that they do not believe Christ.
47. The Lord ends his discourse to the Jews Avith tMs decisive con
clusion : But if ye believe not his writings, how shull ye believe my
words ? Hoav indeed ? If they believed not the prediction, hoAV could
they believe its fulfilment? And here we find Avhat belief really is.
The JeAvs beUeved in iloses as their prophet, their lawgiver ; but they
beheved in him after their oavu fashion. They reaUy believed not in
the writings of Moses, but in their oavu interpretations of them. And
they so construed them, that they made the very commandments, which
those AA'ritings contained, of none effect by their traditions. And, as a
consequence, they rejected hhn Avho Avas the Divine Love itself in person.
As every truth is in harmony Avith every other, so, eminently, must
the ta:uths of the Old and New Testaments— the Avritings of Moses and
the words of Christ— harmonize together. He, therefore, who believes
or denies the one, cannot but believe or deny the other. " If ye believe
not Ms writings, how can ye believe my words?"

138 ST, JOHN. [Cuap. VL

CHAPTER VI.
This chapter contains a remarkable discourse of our Lord's, AA'hich
has not found a place in any of the other gospels. He had fed a mul
titude of people, by miraculously multiplying a fcAv loaves and fishes.
And he now turns the attention of the multitude frcmi the perishable
food, Avitli Avliich he had fed their bodies, to himself as the Uving
bread, with Avhich he desired to feed their souls. The miracle of the
loaves and fishes is recorded in the fourteenth chapter oi' MattheAv;
where Ave have also a record of the miracle that followed, Avhen Jesus
walked on the sea. Both having been already explained, it may suffice
to give a brief outline of their meaning, except iu the case of the parti
culars in Avhich the Uvo accounts differ.
1. After these things, Jesus went over the sea of Gcdilee, which is
the sea of Tiberias. The Lord Avas noAv passing from the Avestern to
the eastern side of the lake, leaving Canaan for the country on the
other side Jordan, to carry the blessings of his gospel to a more purely
Gentile popidation. The sea over Avhich he passed Avas representative
of tbe Word, the truths of which are meant by its waters. When
called the Sea of Galilee, from the region Avhich it skirts, it means the
"Word with respect to the good Avhicli it teaches; aud Avheii caUed the
Sea of Tiberias, from the toAvn on its shore, it means the Word with
respect to its doctrine; and when both these names are apjiUed both
meanings are involved. The Lord passes over to the people Avho are
out of the church by the good of simple truth, as revealed in the letter
of his Word. And if we consider this progression as it respects the
individual, the Lord's descent into the very loAvest degree of the mind
being represented by his piassing over from Galilee to the other side of
Jordan, then by his passing across the Galilean sea is signified his
entrance through the good and truth of his Word, as these exist m the
natural mind.
2. When on the other side, a great multitude followed Mm, because
they saw his miracles which he did on thein that were diseased. The
healing of the diseases of the soul, indicated by these miracles, draws
to the Lord the numerous natural affections and thoughts of the mind;
aitd tnese folloAv him, by striving to foUoAv his example.
3. Separating himself from the multitude, Jesus went up into a
mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. The disciples, as dis
tinguished from the multitude, are the affections aud perceptions of the
spiritual nund, as distmguished from those of the natural mind. The

Chap. VL] S'T JOHN. 139
Lord's retiring, on this and other occasions, Avith his disciples, presents
a symbol of that state of common experience, Avhen the thoughts
and aff'ections are AvithdraAvn from the Avorld, to commune with the
Lord on the things of spiritual and eternal life. Our sphere of active
CMistian usefulness is the world. But there are times and seasons
when Ave desire and need to retire into the chamber or ascend into the
mount, away from the busy croAvd of Avorldly thoughts and feehngs,
to seek ucav strengtii for the spiritual affections and perceptions, by a
nearer mtercourse with the Lord of life.
4. It is here mentioned that the passover, a feast of the Jeics, was
nigh. There is not perhaps auy obvious connection betAveen the
Jewish feast and the circumstances related in this chapter. There is,
however, a relation of the feast of the passover to the feeding of the
multitude, and more especiaUy to the eating of the flesh of the Son of
Man, of which the Lord afterAvards treats so largely. Jesus Avas our
passover ; and his completed work of redemption and glorification,
m wMch the feast was to receive its fulfilment, Avas nigh.
5, 6. The Lord, Avitli his disciples, having retired, the multitude
foUowed him. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great
company come unto him, he saith unto Pliilip, Whence shcdl we buy
bread that these m,ay eat ? By retiring into the mountain, and draAv-
hig the mMtitude after Mm, we learn, that Avhen the Lord raises the
Mgher affections of the mind to himself and heaven, the loAver are
elevated also. Jesus, Avho kncAv of the movements of the multitude, is
spoken of as lifting up his eyes and seeing them coming. The lifting
up of the eyes, so often recorded in the Word, means, in relation to
man, the elevation of the understanding ; the consequent sight of the
object bemg expressive of perception. In reference to the Lord this
means the application and operation of his Avisdom. " His eyes be
hold, his eyehds try, the chUdren of men" (Ps. xi. 4). But the true
liftinn- up of the Lord's eyes takes place in the minds of those hi
whom he dAveUs. He sees Avhen he gives them to see; for all spiritual
sight is the perception which Ms truth imparts to the intellect. The
question which the Lord, on seeing the great company come unto him,
proposed to Philip, is interesting, more especially as Ave are informed
that he himself knew what he would do. Such questions are intended
to jw-OJ/e the faithful. Yet the proof is intended, not for th.e Lord's
satisfaction, but for the disciples' improvement. The Lord proves us,
not to see what is in us, but to enable us to see what is in ourselves,
and to prepare us for recognising his divine goodness and Avisdom m
the removal of the difficuUy to which our reflection leads us. But

140 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VL
this circumstance teaches us, that the mind itself has a kind of double
consciousness, and even that faith, hke the moon, has its light and
dark sides, its believing and its unbelieving phase, like the man A\'ho
exclaimed, " Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark ix. 24).
7. Phihp answered the Lord's question by saying, Tivo hundred
pennyworth of bread is not sufiicient for them, that every one of them
may take a little. The Lord had inquired, "Whence shaU we buy
bread, that these may. eat?" Our first and natural idea is to rely
upon meritorious goodness, or that avMcIi Ave purchase for ourselves.
Yet, Avith the sincere disciple, there is a sense of the inadequacy of the
supply Avhich even our utmost means and powers can procure. Two
hundred pence was probably all the money Avhich the bag contained, yet,
though a considerable sum, it was not enough for the occasion. When
we think of feeding the mind Avith purchased bread, and yet see that
our knoAvledge, lioAvever large, is insufficient to procure enough to
satisfy our hunger, or even to jjrovide that every one of our affec
tions may take a little, avc are in some measure prepared to accept the
good that the Lord alone can give, and Avhich is more than sufficient
to supply every Avant.
8, 9. The conviction and acknowledgment, that the utmost extent
to which self-righteousness goes does not suffice to satisfy the cravings
of the soul, is folloAved by another and higher state of mind, AvMch
brings us a step nearer the solution of the difficulty, aud the discovery
of the real answer to the divine question, " Whence shaU Ave buy
bread, that these may eat?" One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother, saith unto him. There is a lad here, which hath five
barley loaves, and two smcdl fishes , but what are they among so many ?
AndreAv evidently stands higher in the scale of disciplesMp than Pluhp.
We have already (i. 43) spoken of Philip as representing a more ob
scure perception of truth, and a loAver degree of faith, than thos3 of
Avhich Andr^Av is the type, WhUe Philip thinks oMy of purchasing
bread for the mMtitude, AndrcAv discovers a supply among themselves.
Spiritually understood, the lad, or youth, is the good affection of early
life, in Avhich the remains or germs of heavenly goodness and truth
have been implanted bj' the Lord, and haA^e been preserved, so that,
the time and state having arrived, they can be brought forth to
form the beginnhig of the ueAV man. These remains are meant by the
loaves and the fishes. Five, like ten, denotes remains, but in less
abundance ; the quality of these remains of natural goodness being
indicated by the loaves being of barley. The fact of the loaves being
feAv and of barley, and the fishes still fewer and small, expresses,

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. Hi
representatively, hoAV scanty and poor were the remains of Avhat was
good and true iu the church at the time of our Lord's Adveni,. But
little as there Avas, and little as there may be, of such remains in the
mind of any one, and inadequate as these may themselves be in relation
to the ueAvly created desires of the mind, yet, in the Divine hand, they
groAv into such abundance as to be more than enough to satisfy the
present cravings aud pressing wants of the soul.
10. Thus scantUy pro\'ided, Jesus sunt. Make the men sit doion.
Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat dumi, in num
ber about five thousand. The arrtinging or disposing the affections in
the order of heaven, represented by the people sitting doAvn, is one of
the means by Avhich the Lord prepares them for the reception and
appropriation of the prmciples of goodness and truth ; the abundant
grass on Avhich they sat signifying abundance of natural truth, such as
the letter of ihe Word contains, and on Avhich the ordinated aff'ections
rest. 11-13. Jesus took the loaves, and n-l,cn he had given thanks, he
distributed to the disciple^, and the discipiles to them tlud were set
down ; and likewise of the fishes as much as they ivould. When they
were filled, he suid unto his disciples. Gather up the fragments thut
remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together,
and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves,
which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. In the
Lord's miracles of feeding the multitudes, there is this one particular
to be observed. He does not immediately create the necessary quantity
of food, Avhich would seemingly be a greater exhibition of poAver ; but
he takes a small quantity, Avhicli some one present supplies, and makes
that the seed, so to speak, from which, under his beneficent hand, the
abundant harvest springs. Can we suppose this is done without a
purpose and a moral? Does it not teach us that even m the spiritual
concerns of the soul nothing is brought out of nothing ? There must
be a nucleus, a rudiment, a germ, as a beginning, without Avhich even
Onmipotence does not create for us the means of spiritual life. That
very germ, it is 'crue, is the gift of God, for Ave have nothing of our
selves ; but it is a gift he bestoAvs on every soul, by the operation of
his Spirit, Avith the co-operation of angels and parents, during the early
periol of life, while the soul is yet in the Eden of infantile innocence.
TMough this supply, however smaU, the divine poAver can produce
such abundance, that not only all the Avants of the mind shaU be
satisfied, and the powers strengthened for the immediate uses of life,
but that the twelve baskets shall be filled with the fragments that

142 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VL
remain, that nothing that comes from God out of heaven may be lost.
The fragments of the loaves and fishes, like the pot of manna, is laid
up in the sanctuary, Avhich is the inmost affection of the soul, there
to be preserved as a memorial of the Divine mercy, in giving us,
during our pilgrimage, bread from heaven to eat.
14, 15. TMs miracle produced two effects. The people acknoAv-
ledged Jesus as the Messiah, and determined to make him a king.
These are tAvo particulars not mentioned in the other gospels. Then
those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said.. This is
af a truth thcd Prophet that should cume into the world. The con
viction, as Ave find, Avas, in this case, as iu many others produced by
miracles, in some of the multitude at least, superficial and tiansitory.
The attempt they made to bring their faith to a practical resMt, in a
Avay congenial to the national passion, shoAvs hoAv natural as avcU as
shallow their faith Avas. Wlien Jcus therefore perceived thcd they
ivould come and ta.ke him by force, to make him a king, he departed
again into a mountain himself alone. There was nothing more
natural than that a multitude of Jews, suddeMy convmced that Jesus
Avas the promised Messiah, should be inspired Avitli the deshe to make
him a king, that he might conquer for them deliverance from the
hated Roman yoke. They had not learnt, and had no desire to learn,
that, though the Lord Avas a king, his kingdom Avas not of this world.
This ignorance and this error are still those of every early Christian
disciple. He regards tlie Lord's regal character and his kingdom
rather as earthly than heavenly. He is willing that the Lord should be
his king, but only that his power may be exalted in his natural affec
tions, for natural ends. But in this state of the mind, the Lord with-
draAVS himself into the good affection of the inner man, as he retired
into the mountain, to maintain his hold on the inner life, till he can
again descend with advantage into the thoughts and affections of the
natural mind.
16-21. The storm Avhich the disciples encountered whUe ou theh
passage across the lake, and the two miracles of Jesus, his coming to
them Avalking on the sea, and his stilling the tempest, are to be con
sidered as having a connection with the feeding of the multitude Avith
the loaves and fishes. Goodness and truth are not confirmed but by
.means of temptation. The reception of these spiritual principles is
described by the feeding of the five thousand, and the temptation
Avhich follows their reception, and is the necessary means of their
confirmation, is meant by the storm.
In the early part of the chapter we find the Lord, his disciples, and

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. 143
the multitude together ; at the beginning of this portnm of the record
Ave find them apart, tbe Lord gone up into a mountain alone, his
disciples gone into a ship, and the people remaining on the other side,
and standing on the sea-shore. These are representative of different
but alternate states. The disciples represent the spiritual thoughts
and affections of the inner man, and the people, the natural thoughts
and affections of the outer man, Avhile the Lord is the truth and life
that enlighten and sustam both. These sometimes act unitedly, some
times distinctly^ — unitedly when man looks to the Lord and heaven ;
distinctly, and it may be separately, Avlien he looks to himself and the
Avorld. In this state it is that he is exposed to temptation. This is
the state Avhich is described, in the present relation, by the experience
both of the disciples on the sea and the midtitude on tbe shore.
These we uoav briefly consider.
16-18. And when even was now come, his disciples weirt^iown
unto the -tea, and entered into a ship, und went over the sea toward
Capernaum. And the sea arose, by reason of a great wind tlicit blew.
All this is descriptive of a state of trial and temptation. It was noAv
even, and soon it becomes dark, and a great Avind raises the sea into
a storm. This historical sjunbolism it is not difficult to interpret.
Darkness anil tempest in this outer Avorld are obvious images of the
mental and spiritual obscuiity and tribulation, Avhich form part of the
common experience of all Christian disciples in passing through the
religious life, of Avliich going over the sea to Capernaum is but one of
the stages. The sea to Avliich they go doAvn is the letter of the Word ;
the Lord's own city, Capernaum, is the doctrine of the Lord, as God
in his humanity; the one ship into which they enter is the knoAvledge
of that one Lord and Saviour. But while they go doAvn to, and pass over
tlie sea, Jesus is not c,ome to them; he is away in the mountain
alone, above the region of their active thoughts and feelings, leaAing
them for a Avliile td themselves, but ready to descend to succour
them Avhen the time of deliverance comes. But it may be useful to
consider how and Avhence these states of obscurity and tribulation arise.
Alternations of state arise from the alternate activity of our sphitual
aud natural thoughts and affections. These alternations are unavoid
able and useful. In their orderly succession they are like the regular
vicissitudes of day and night. The mind is no more able to maintain
a state of constant Avakef'ulness and activity than the body. The
angels themselves have their alternations of state. They rise into
activity and sink into repose ; and these changes both improve their
state and exalt their happiness. They lay them doAvn in peace and

144 ST. JOHN. [Chap, VL
sleep, for the Lord sustains them. During these passive states, not
only does the Lord keep their city, but he builds up their house as a
habitation for himself ; for so he giveth to his beloved m sleep. This
sleep is SAveet, and Avhen they awake they awake in his hkeness. But
to those who are yet on earth, these vicissitudes are not ahvays of this
orderly and peaceful kind. " In the world ye shall have tribMation."
Here Ave have not only our tAvilight but our darkness, not only our
gentle breezes to carry our bark along, but our great wind, that raises
the sea into a storm, Avhich threatens to make shipwreck of our souls.
In these storms, " they who go down to the sea in ships, mount up to the
heaven, they go down again to the depths, their soM is melted because
of trouble." It is thus that, outwardly or iiiAvardly, " they cry unto
the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of theh distresses "
(Ps. cvii. 23-28). This is the extremity in avMcIx the disciples are
Avhen, having rowed ubout five-und-twenty or thirty furlongs, they see
.Jesus walking on the sea, and drauiug nigh unto the ship. Severe as
Avas the storm, they continued to row ; they did not lay doAvn theh
oars aud give themselves up for lost, but rather, we may suppose,
exerted themselves the more as the storm increased. And they made
progress. They had rowed about five-and-twenty or thirty furlongs
Avhen the Lord appeared to them. Twenty-five and thirty, like the
simple numbers five and six, of Avhich they are the product, mdicate not
so much the amount of spiritual progress as the quality of theh
sphitual state, as being one in which the remains of love and truth
are brought out by the labours of temptation. Their striving had
not indeed brought them to the other side, and would m aU proba-
bilit.y have failed even to save them. But it brought them so far on
theh way, and even towards him who came to them Avalking on the
Avater. They Avere uoav far from the land, in the midst of the sea,
Avith the raging tempest threatening their destruction. In such perUous'
circumstances, hoAv welcome the prospect of deliverance. With what
wonder and gratitude must they have been filled Avhen they recognised
Jesus coming toAvards them, walking securely upon those troubled
Avaves, that tMeatened every moment to engulph them. Yet not hope,
but fear, was their first emotion. They loere afraid. According to
MattheAv, they supposed they saw a spirit, and, perhaps looking upon
it as a messenger of death, they cried out for fear. Our states give a
shape and complexion to the objects that come upon us suddeMy. In
spiritual experience and in the sphitual world this is invariably the
ciise. And more is it so with divhie than even Avith sphitual things ;
they are more remote from our conceptions. The fear Avith which the

Chap, VL] ST. JOHN. U5
Lord's presence inspired the disciples is the experience of all other
disciples. Fear precedes love, that in love there may be holy fear.
That Avhich the divine presence first inspires is slavish fear, the fear
which arises from a consciousness of our sinfulness. The fear of the
disciples was from theh not knowing that it Avas Jesus that appeared
to them. And so Avith all slavish fear. So long as Ave regard the
Lord as an object of dread, we do not know hhn; Ave may indeed knoAv
Ms name, but we are ignorant of his character. When he reveals
himself to us, as he did to the disciples, not merely by the hearing of
the ear, but through the affections of the heart, our fear is changed
into love, or rather our love casts out fear, for he himself has said
unto us, It is I, he not afraid. And as the disciples wiUingly received
him into the sh ip, those to Avhom he reveals himself joyfuUy receive
Mm into theh hearts and mmds, as the very object and hfe of the know
ledge by which they sought to come to him. Thus does he bring
them to their deshed haven, or, as the evangehst records, immedicdely
the ship was at the land whither they went. TMs marveUous, if not
mhacMous speed, was the result of the Lord's presence. The sphitual
idea of speed is certainty, for there is no time m the .sphitual world.
But speed raeans joy as weU as certainty ; for sphitual distances are
the measures of state ; joyful states are short, sorrowful states are
long. AU spiritual trials and temptations Avhich bring us to the Lord,
and bring and reveal the Lord to us, are such as bring us Avith certainty
and joy to the land Avhither all true disciples are going, and finaUy to
the land of Canaan above, our desired haven of eternal security and
rest. 22-24. The evangelist, having recorded the arrival of the ship with
its precious freight at Capernaum, uoav returns to the mMtitude Avho
had been left on the other side of the lake. The day following, when
the people, which stood on the other side of the sea, saio that ihere was
none other bout there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered,
and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the bout, hut thut his
ij isciples icere gone awuy alone; (howbeit there came other bouts from
Tiberias, nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the
Lord had given thunlu •) when the people therefore suw thut Jesus was not
there, neither his disc pies, they cdso took shipping, and cume to Caper
naum, seeking for Je us. The day foUowing is a new state, the quality
of which is hidicatc 1 by the transactions that belong to it. The first
state of the people, as representatively described in the narrative, is an
external one: they -jtood on the side of the sea opposite to that on which
the disciples werf, and out of the land of Canaan. They saAv that

146 ST, JOHN, [Chap. YI
there Avas no other boat there, save that one mto Avhich his disciples
Avere entered. This one boat into which the disciples had entered, is,
we have seen, the knowledge of the one great truth, that Jesus is the
Author and Object of all true faith, the Giver of all good; a truth into
which none but the disciples of the Lord can enter. They saw also
that Jesus went not Avith the (hsciples into the boat, but that the dis
ciples were gone aAvay alone. They had a perception that this know
ledge of Jesus Avas not fiUed with the fuMess of his love and goodness.
Temptation, like the storm, had yet to be endured before the saving
presence of the Lord, as the Saviour, could be given. KnoAving that
Jesus went not with his disciples, the people supposed that he had
remained behind. Not finding him in that place, they determined to
cross the lake in search of him. They found some ships from Tiberias,
nigh unto the place Avhere they had eaten bread. These ships had
either arrived after the disciples had left, or were found at another
place, near to Bethsaida. The knoAAiedge of the one truth that Jesus
is the Christ is that one which leads directly to him. HoAvbeit there
are other knoAvledges of truth which lead to him, though less dhectly ;
but these must come from Tiberias iu the land of Canaan ; for aU true
knoAvledge that leads to the Lord must come from the church where
the Word is. The people Avho took shipping and came to Capernaum
seekmg for Jesus, had a deshe of a certam kmd, to find him and profit
by Mm ; but it appears from the sequel that thehs Avas not a very
noble object. Like that of some others, their attachment to the Lord
Avas not founded on the pure and disinterested love of his goodness and
truth. 25. When they hud found Mm on the other side of the sea, they
said unto him. Rabbi, when camest thuu hither ? This title, by Avhich
the people address the Lord, is in accordance Avitli their professed
object in seeking for him ; for a Rabbi, or teacher, signifies the truth,
Avhich he is supposed to teach. The Lord, as Rabbi, is the Truth it
self But the people who now addressed hhn, did not, it will appear,
regard him m this exalted character. Nor did they seek him as a
teacher, that he might lead them, by the kiioAv ledge of truth, to the
possession of goodness, unless to that Avhich was perhaps to them the
highest good, the loaves and fishes, Avith Avhich they had been and
might again be filled. The question, spirituaUy considered, indicates
that such inquirers after Jesus have only an mteUectual, not a moral
purpose in their search after Mm as the teacher. They ask him, "When
camest thou hither ? Time means state, but state in relation to truth,
as place means state in relation to goodness. They had, it is true, no

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. 147
intention of embodying any such idea in the terms of their question.
But there is a profound depth of causation in the expressions Ave
use, and divine inspiration fills them with a corresponding spiritual
meaning. 26. Instead of replying to their question, Jesus answered them, and
¦¦iaid. Verily, verily, I say unto you. Ye seek me, not because ye saw
the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
The miracles to which the Lord referred were those he had performed
on the diseased. The healing of diseases represented the removing of
evils. To seek the Lord for the meat he gives, but not because of the
mhacMous cures he performs, is to seek to be filled Avith good, with
out bemg delivered from evU. Those Avho are of this character desire
to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, Avhioh is for food, without first
submitting to be healed Avith its leaves, which are for medicine. The
good Ave deshe to possess or to do, without hating and ceasing to do
evU, is not spiritual but natural, not heavenly but earthly. This, it is
evident from Avhat uoav foUoAvs, Avas the kind of good for Avliich the
people sought Jesus ; and is that kmd of good Avhich is desired by
those Avho foUow him, not because they see his miracles of curing the
tliseases of the mind and life, but because they have eaten and been
fiUed AAith the natural good and truth wMch even natural men are
wiUing to receiA'e.
27. The fhst words of exhortation AvMch the Lord addresses tt>
them show Ms knoAvledge of their character. Labour not for the
meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto ever
lasting life, which the Son of man shull give unto you: for him
huth God the Fcdher seeded. But the lesson which was thus de- .
livered to them is of universal application, and is designed for the
use of aU disciples, and of aU others who seek the Lord. Hoav much
is expressed in this one word, labour ! Labour is the heritage of man,
God, in his Avisdom, and not only in his Avisdom, but m Ms goodness,
has so constituted us, that labour is a necessity of our nature. Wo
cannot rise above the condition of the animal without it. But labour
was not mtended by the Divine Being to be employed oMy to supply
our animal or other temporal wants. God had an eternal end in vieAV
in the appointment of human labour. And if our end m life Avere
in harmony with God's, our labour, even for the requhements of the
body, would, at the same time, discipline and enrich the mind, and
thus equaUy advance our temporal and eternal welfare. God is in all
Ms laws, both of creation and providence, working out by them his
eternal ends : and we need only to become workers together Avith him.

148 ST JOHN, [Chap, VI
that his AvUl and pleasure may be realized in our happiness. But by
sin we have separated what God had joined together. And now Ave
labour only for the meat which perishes, without any deshe for that
which endures. We spend our money for that which is not bread,
and our labour for that wMch satisfieth not. Such being our natural
state, the Lord came down from heaven to dhect our labour to an
eternal instead of a temporal end ; to provide us with that sphitual
meat which is required for the soul, and which endures unto everlast
ing life. The meat which endures, as that which nourishes the soul,
is the good Avhich is received by the inner man. And this meat is
that which the Son of Man gives unto us. This name is expressive,
not only of the Lord's human nature, but of his divine truth, both as
manU'ested in his own person and as revealed in his Word. He gives,
both from himself and through Ms Word, the sphitual and eternal
goodness which alone is imperishable, and which therefore is alone
deserving of our labour. And this the Son of Mau gives ; for Mm
hath God the Father sealed. God has impressed the seal of Ms
eternal divinity on his humanity. The Son is the express image,
the stamped impression of the Father's substance. The Son of Man
was sealed by the Father when the humanity of the Lord was glori
fied by Ms diviMty; as the faithful are said to be sealed by being
regenerated. The Lord, as Divine Truth, is sealed by DivMe Love ;
and thus he gives us enduring goodness, he being eternal goodness
itself, given as we are able to receive it,
28, 29. Then suid they unto Mm, What shall we do, that we might
work the works of God ? Jesus ansioered and said unto them, This is
the work of God, thut ye believe on him whom he hath sent. StiU
thinkmg naturally of the meat which the Lord declared himself able
to give, the people ask Avhat they should do to work the works of God,
by which that meat was to be obtained. The Lord's ansAver is a
striking one. The work of God is to believe on him Avhom he hath
sent. To the Jews, who rested their hopes on the AA'orks of the
Mosaic law, tMs must have seemed to remove the foundations of their
religion. For their elaborate system of observances AA^as to be sub
stituted behef in One whom they could, at best, regard and recognise
as a Rabbi. But faith in Jesus, in whom aU the Mosaic laAv was ful-
Mled, and who was its substance, was an esseutial condition of the
salvation and eternal life he came to bestow. Perhaps Christians are
too much inclmed to take the JoAvish view of this subject. They
are liable to commit the error of supposing that the faith of Jesus
Christ is a substitute, not only for Jewish but for Christian works,

Chap, VL] ST. JOHN. 149
and that it is the only condition of salvation : that faith, in fact, in
cludes works, and that the Avhole work of God consists in believing
on Mm whom he hath sent. Belief in Jesus, as the manifested God,
is indeed essential to the A'ery existence of Christianity and the
Christian life. Christian faith is not a substitute for works, but a
power of working. Faith in Jesus is Jesus dwelling in us by faith.
And when the Lord dwells in us, he it is who doeth the works. He
Avho inspires us with the love, and bestows on us the Avisdom, aud
gives us the poAver, is himself the author of the good we are enabled
to do. The faith which saves is not alone. There is no true faith
Avithout love, and neither faith nor love Avithout works,
30. When the Lord had instructed them that the work of God was
to believe m Mm, They said unto him, What sign shewest thou then,
that we may see, and believe thee ? What dost thou work ? They had
seen the Lord perform mhacles, and they themselves had been fed by
one of the greatest of them, and still they demanded a sign. A sign
differs from a miracle. A mhacle is a work that affects the avUI, and
inclines it to listen to him who performs it ; but a sign acts upon the
understandmg, and forces its consent. The understanding is not con
vinced by signs, but by reasons. No work, however marveUous, can
convince, which does not enlighten. And to compel belief without
rational conviction, does not produce, but destroys, true faith. It in
duces a faith in which there is no truth ; and faith without truth is
blmd faith, which is not conviction but persuasion. It was for this
reason that the Lord refused a sign to those Avho demanded that evi
dence of his truthfulness. An evU generation seeks after a sign, and
there shaU no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah,
which pointed to the Lord's own resurrection, and uuto his glorifica
tion, which is the only and convincing sign to those disinclined to
believe in his teaching.
31. But the people not only demand a sign, but they indicate the
nature of the sign which they desired. Our fathers did eat manna in
the desert; as it is written. He gave them bread from heuven to eut.
These very persons Avho appealed to this miracle, had just been fed
in the desert with bread from heaven, provided for them by as great a
miracle as that by which their fathers had been sustained. Yet they
appeal to the manna, and ask Jesus for an equally convincing proof of
his power. And such is ever the demand of the unbelieving. Yet
no work, but one which would effect a moral change in themselves,
can convince them ; and Avithout this change of heart signs may be
multipUed to infinity only to make them more negative than before.

150 ST. JOHN, [Chap. VI,
32. Our Lord calls their attention, therefore, away from the outward
miracle and sustenance, to the inAvard work and life. He says to them,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. The literal meanmg of
this requires attention. Some understand it to mean that the bread of
tbe Israelites, though produced by a miracle, did not come from heaven;
others, that the manna, though from heaven, was not tiie true bread.
The passage literaUy is, "Moses gave you not the bread from heaven."
That Avhich Moses gave you was not the true bread — the bread of life.
My Fcdher giveth you the true bread from heaven. The contrast here
is most important. The Lord teaches that the bread which theh
fathers had received under Moses was for the body, AvMle that AvMch
Avas UOAV provided for and offered to them by Jesus, was for the soM.
He thus endeavours to load their thoughts from the natural to the spiri
tual, from the type to the antitj^pe.
33. The Lord, as is his wont, sheds his light upon them graduaUy.
He nuAv brings it to bear a little more directly upon them. Tlie bread
of God is he which cometh duwn frum heaven, and giveth life unto the
world. To us this language is plain enough; but the Jews did not yet
understand its true meaning or fuU force; they did not yet see that the
Lord meant that he himself was the true bread Avhioh nourishes the
soul, but that he had bread, and Avould give it to support human life,
by Avhich they understood the life of the body. Their notions exactiy
correspond Avith those of the Avoman of Samaria. When Jesus spoke
of his being able to give her li\-ing Avater, she understood Mm to speak
of some natural spring Avhich Avas inexhaustible. The present case is
an exact counterpart of this, though the result seems much less favour
able. There, the subject is the Avater of life, here, it is the bread of
life : there, it is the living and life-giving truth, here, it is the living
and life-giving goodness. Both are equally necessary for spiritual life,
but both are not equally easy to receive.
34. The answer of the Jcavs is the same as that of the Samaritan
woman: Lord, evermore give us this bread. Hoav ready we are to
accept from the Lord what is agreeable to ourselves. Hoav glad should
we be to have our bodies, and even our minds supplied, without stint
or interruption, with the things which they are willing to recognise as
good, and wMoh is their bread of life. Yet, as not all who uttered
tMs desire were natural men, since they Avere not aU offended with the
plain truth, when it came to be declared to them, the prayer is hi itseU
au expressive one. The true deshe, evermore to be fed with the true
bread that came doAvn from heaven in the person of the Lord, contain
ing in himself all that the soul can need or receive, to fill it with good-

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN,

151

ness and truth, as the very principles of spiritual and eternal life, is
the hunger and thirst after righteousness, which Jesus has promised to
satisfy. " Evermore give us this bread" is, therefore, a petition which
the true as Avell as the nominal foUower of the Lord Avill offer, when
the light first breaks in upon his mind, that the bread of God is he
Avho cometh doAAui from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. The
same in form with aU, but different m essence in the real and the
nominal behever.
35. Jesus ansAvers their petition, by still more plainly revealing
the truth in relation to himself lam the bread of life: he that cometh
to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst. It AviU be seen that, as in the case of the Samaritan woman,
the Lord buUds his doctrine on the foundation his inquirers had laid.
They supply a material basis, aud he buUds upon it a spiritual super
structure. The history of the Israelites Avas a representative history of
human redemption and salvation. The work of redemption was re
presented by the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, and
the work of salvation, by their journey through the Avilderness and
their settlement in Canaan. The bread that came down from heaven
lo feed them, and the water that Avas given, even out of the rock, to
quench theh tMrst, were types of the good and truth with which the
Lord feeds the soul, and gives it spiritual life. The whole experience of
the Israelites was typical "All were baptized unto Moses in the cloud
and in the sea ; and did all eat tbe same spiritual meat ; and did all
drink the same spiritual drink : (for they drank of that spiritual Rock
that foUowed them; and that Rock was Christ). Nowthese thmgswere our
ensamples" (1 Cor. x. 2). Although the Lord speaks only of the bread
as being typical of him, as the living bread, yet he includes the water as
typical of him, as the living water ; for he says that they who come
to him shaU never hunger, and they that believe on him shall never
thirst. AU who come to the Lord with their Avill, and believe in him
with their understanding, will have the deepest cravings of their im
mortal nature satisfied. They shaU never hunger any more, neither
thhst any more. They will have no unsatisfied desires. They wUl
not lust after what is evU and false, but only desire what is good and
true. These are the meat and drink of angels, and must be the food
of those who desire to become angels. The Lord, as the supreme Good
and Truth, is the very bread and water of life ; and aU who truly come
to Mm, and believe on him, shall receive of his fulness.
36. Although the multitude that Jesus addressed had seen him, and
beheld his wonderful works, and been fed by a miracle, they yet re-

152 ST, JOHN. [Chap. VL
mained unbelieving. But I said unto you. That ye also have seen me,
and believe not. The Jews were those of whom it is said, that seeing,
they see not, or, seeing, see and do not perceive. " For this people's
heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes
they have closed : lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them" (Matt. xiii. 15). To
see without believing is to have a merely intellectual apprehension of
the truth, without any inward consent grounded in afi'ection. This
our Lord reveals in what he hoav says, as recorded in the next verse.
37. AU that the Father giveth me shull come to me. It has been
inferred from this and some similar statements, that God had elected a
certain number, on whom he was pleased to bestoAv his grace and confer
the gift of salvation ; and that these he Avould bring to Christ, none
others having the poAver to come. The present statement affords, even
in the literal sense, no ground for such an opinion. In the original
" aU" is neuter, and does not mean persons but things. The proper
rendering Avould be. Everything that the Father giveth me wiU come
to me. By everything that the Father gives is meant every affection
and thought, inclination and motive, in the mind or heart of man, in
AA'hich there is anything of heaveMy goodness. When, therefore, the
Lord says that every such thing wUl come to Mm, he means that
AA'herever there is anything truly good in the interiors of the human
mind, there is in that good an acknoAvledgment of the Lord and his
truth, and a disposition to obey him. And as every such good comes
from God, and indeed from his love, by its very nature it returns to
him again, and receives the truth, Avhicli raises it up into actual life by
regeneration. But Avithin the literal sense of the Lord's words, there
is a spiritual sense, Avhich accounts for the form of the declaration. The
F"'ather is the Lord's divine love, and the Son is his divine Avisdom.
The profound and instructive meaning of the Lord's Avords is, that all
Avho suffer themselves to be draAvn by the Lord's love will come to and
accept his truth. None else can or will come. A divine influence,
acting upon the heart, turns the understanding believinglyto the Lord.
The human soul is under the influence of the Lord's love from the first
moment of its existence ; and love is acting within the heart long
before the understanding is capable of receiving the knoAvledge of the
truth. That the work of the Lord's love precedes that of his truth,
the Lord himself declares in the words aheady considered, " My Father
Avorketh hitherto, and I work." This is the order of the divine opera
tion, in the individual as AveU as in the world. Were not this the

Chap. VL] trT, JOHN. 153
case, the human mind Avould neither have the capacity nor the desire
for truth. This love does not force, it oMy draws ; nor is there any
idea of compulsory draAving, or of necessary yielding, expressed in the
original, which the " shall" of our version conveys. The Lord, as a
Father, draws us by his love, and we, as beings he has created free,
must freely yield to his attractive influence, otherwise Ave cannot be
saved. If we yield to the ever-constrainhig influence of love, the
blessed promise is, and him thut cometh to me I will in no loise cast
out. The Lord casts out none. Those who are cast out are such as
have been drawn to him, as the truth, not by the loA'e of God, but by
the love of self AU whom the Father gives to the Son find in him
security and happiness,
38, Our hope of acceptance by the Lord rests on this, For I came
down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him thut
sent me. The wUl of tbe Father and the wiU of the Son are spoken of
as distinct, and hi some instances as at variance. Considered as divine
persons, this were impossible. As the divine and the human natures
in the person of the Lord, this distinction and variance are easily under
stood. The human will could be inimical to the divine. It must
have been so. But the Lord's human will always yielded submission
to his divine wUl ; and by this means his human wiU became divine,
that is, divine-human. There is, hoAvever, another and more abstract
meaning than this in the Lord's words. He speaks of having come
doAvii from heaven to do the Father's avUI, and not his oavu. He, as
Ave have had occasion to remark, came down from heaven as Divine
Truth, to do the will of Divine Love. We have also remarked
that Divine Truth condemns all, and that Divine Love saves all. This
truth no doubt lies at the foundation of the theological notion, that
divine mercy and divine justice are opposed to each other. There
is this wide difference, however, between the true and the mistaken
view. The mistaken view is, that mercy and justice are opposed in
the mind of God ; the true view is, that they are opposed in the mind
of man. The Lord, by incarnation, took upon himself the human
mmd, in Avhich the opposition between mercy and justice, or love aud
truth, existed ; and his work in the flesh consisted essentially in his
reconciling them. Had the Lord come into the Avorld as the Truth
oMy, none could have been saved, for his work would only have been
a Avork of judgment. All would have been cast out, for none could
have endured the operation of that Avhich judges. But the Lord, as
the Truth, came not to do his own will, but the wiU of Mm that sent
him, the wUl of his divine love, which is the source of all good, and

154 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VI.
consequently of aU blessedness. Divine truth came to do the wUl of
divine love ; not to be author of condemnation, but the instrument of
salvation. Yet let us reflect that we are saved, not by divme love
Avilling and Avorking for us, but by divine love working m us, to wUl
and to do of its good pleasure. This is our Father's avUI.
39. Having declared that he came to do Ms Father's will, the Lord
tells the people what that Avill is. This is the Father's will, thut of
all which he hath givenme I should lose nothing, but should raise it up
at the last day. Here, again, the " aU " is neuter, and moans every
thing, Avhich is indeed expressed by " it,'' which is to be raised up at
tbe last. AU that the Father gives the Son is, as already remarked,
all in us that is wUling to be draAvn to the knoAvledge and obecUence
of the truth. Love cannot save us but by bringing us under the
tea",hing and government of truth. If love coMd save by itself, all
would be saved ; for God wiUs that aU men should be saved, but he
wills that all should be saA^ed and come to the knowledge of the truth.
It is because love can only save by truth, that divhie truth, or the
Word, " came down from heaven," and was manifested on earth in the
person of Jesus Christ. The object of this manifestation was to make
divine truth the perfect instrument or medium, even on earth, of divine
love hi heaven, that Avhatever could be drawn away from evU to good
by the mfluence of love might be shielded and preserved, purified and
enlightened, by the poAver of truth, so that the Lord's Avill might be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Every good affection wMch God's
loA'e produces in the heart requires a corresponding perception in the
understandmg for its development and preservation, and every such
perception comes from God's truth. Every human affection is given
to the Son when it is brought into the light of truth, and the end m
Aiew is, that of all which the Son thus receives, he should lose notMng,
but should raise it up at the last day. In reference to the regeneration
of mau, the last day is the last or the completed state of the new life.
Resurrection is rising into ncAvness of life. It is not the raising of Avhat
is dead into life, but the raising of what is living out of what is dead.
There must be a germ that is capable of being called into life Avhen
the seed faUs into the ground aud dies. The good wMch the love of
God implants in the human heart is only potential, and only becomes
actual by the agency of truth. It is truth that raises it up and gives
it consciousness and sight, directing it in the performance of use, and
giving a sense of delight. It is the divine wUl, then, that of aU the
good instructions which Love has given. Truth should lose none, but
should raise them up as Uving and active principles at last, which is not

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. 155
only tlie completed state of regeneration, but the last or ultimate
degree of the regenerate hfe, that the first things shoMd become also
the last, and aU scattered things be gathered into one.
40. The Lord further reveals the Father's wiU. And this is the will
of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
On him may have everlasting life ; and I will raise him up ut the lust
day. A distinction is made between seeing the Son and believmg on
Mm. With respect to us, to see is to know, Avhich is inteUectual sight;
but belief must be added to knoAvledge, that we may have everlasting
life. But everlasting life is a state, and not merely a condition. It is
the Father's avUI that this state should succeed belief. Eternal hfe is a
state of heavenly goodness. Goodness is the first state, and it is the
last. The Mst is the good of ignorance, the second is the good of
wisdom. The first is good which draws us to truth, the second is
good which is purified and enriched by truth. Good is not genume till
it is uMted to truth, love is not true love tUl it is united to wisdom.
Love is life, but love united to Avisdom is eternal life. It is the Lord's
wiU, therefore, that every one who has any good should receive truth,
and it is Ms Avill that every one who receives truth shoMd acquire by
it that good m Avhich there is everlasting life. These are they whom
the Lord promises to raise up at the last day. This cannot mean a
resurrection of the dead at the last day of the Avorld's existence — sup-
posmg that such a day is to come. The raismg up here promised, is
one Avhich is to be enjoyed by believers, and can mean nothmg else
than that Avhich believers only can experience, resurrection from the
death of sin to the life of righteousness. This is the resurrection
wMch the Lord promises. There is another resurrection for the iiglif>
eons : it is their resurrection into heaven, which takes place at the
last day of their earthly existence.
41. "When Jesus had ended this brief but pregnant address, ihe
Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I um the bread thcd
came down from heaven. Hard, no doubt, it AA'as for men, who be
held a human being, to admit his descent as bread from heaven. Yet,
they had seen Ms mighty works, and had eaten of the bread that his
poAver had produced to satisfy the cravings of their hunger. Was not
his claim, to be the giver of the bread which satisfies the hunger of the
soul, deserving of their serious regard ? But they were types of the
natural man, and of the natural mind of man, in aU times. These
murmur at the things of the spirit, and most of all at the Mghest
sphitual things, those which relate to the Lord as the Supreme Good,
from Avhom all tiiat can be called good is derived, both among angels
in heaven and among men on earth.

156 ST, JOHN. [Chap, VL
42. Appearances favour this objection to the Lord being the source
of all heavenly goodness. To the claim which he made, the Jews
ansAvered, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
we know ? how is it then that he saith, I came doion from heaven ?
The reputed son of Joseph, the Lord could not be supposed by the
multitude to have come doAvn from heaven, Jesus had claimed to be
the Son of God, but for this they sought to kUl him; they had seen
his mighty works, but these they ascribed to an evU power, "When
men are natural, all their conceptions, even of divine things, are
natural. The same objection which the Jews made against the mcar-
nate Word is made by natural men against the Avritten Word. Be
cause the Word, like the Lord, is clothed in a human foim, those
who judge from appearance regard it as merely human. The estimate
we form of the Word is necessarily similar to that which we form of
the Lord, who is the Divine Truth itself, Avliich the Word reveals,
and Avhich, in its inmost sense, it is.
43. The dissent and reasoning of the Jews appear to have been
secretly expressed, Jesus therefore ansioered and said unto them.
Murmur not among yourselves. TMs exhortation, both in itself and
m reference to the declaration AA'hich foUoAvs, is a most necessary one.
Not only among us, but within us, should all murmuring cease.
When the thoughts and affections unite iu complainings against the
teachings of DiAine Truth, it is because they are uuAvUling to become
subject to its laAvs, unless its rule is to be rewarded by temporal bene
fits. Jesus does not enter into conflict with them on the subject of
his divinity and descent from heaven, but seeks to allay their irrita
tion and still their murmurings, that theh mmds may be prepared to
hear the words of eternal truth. These murmurings, Uke those of the
children of Israel in the wUderness, are the temptations which, Avith
the faithful, end in the confirmation of truth and good, with the un
faithful, in their rejection.
44. The Lord now reveals to those who had murmured against
him the secret ground of their unbelief, and at the same time the
origin of true faith. No man can come to me, except the Father
which hath sent me dra,w him. The remarks we have made on
similar declarations, especially that contained m verse 37, render it
unnecessary to say much in the way of exposition on the present
statement. The Father, Ave have seen, is the essential divinity, and
the Son is the divine humanity ; the Father is the divine Love, and
the Son is the divine Wisdom, The great truth which the Lord
teaches is this : that no one can come to him as the incarnate God,

Cuap. VL] ST. JOHN. 157
unless he be draAvn to him by the power of his mdwelling divinity ;
no one can come to him as the divine Wisdom except he be draAvu to
him by his divme Love, Religion is not of the head only, but also
and essentially of the heart. The will is the moving power m every
iuteUectual act, and there origmates every act of faith. Every one is
drawn to Jesus CMist by some motive ; and the Lord here tells us
what the only true motive is, Avhich can bring us to him as our Savi
our. Some are draAvn to him by self-love, some by self-interest.
These are the cardinal motives by which natural men are induced to
make a profession of rehgion. They follow Jesus, not because they
have seen or experienced his works of goodness and wisdom, healing
diseases and casting out deAils, opening the blind eyes and un
stopping the deaf ears ; but because they have eaten of the loaves and
fishes, and have thus been Mled with the only good which their heart
deshes. Such motives can never bring us to the Lord as our Saviour.
OMy Ms love can draAv us savmgly to him, and enable us to receive
Mm as the Word made flesh. There can be no faith in the under
standmg where there is no love in the heart. Nor is love the result
of faith, but faith is the result of love. There must be love in the
heart before there can be faith in the understanding, Christianity
may be accepted from a logical conviction of its truth ; but no one
can be drawn to Christ Mmself as " the power of God and the wisdom
of God," but by the attractive power of his love, as a grace of the
heart. But how is this love to be acquired ? The love that draws us
to the Lord is not of ourselves ; it is the gift of God. Nor is it forced
upon us. Like aU other divine gifts it is free ; and, freely offered, it
must be freely received. The Lord's love is the aU pervading, all
animating heat of that Sun, which he causes to rise on the evil and
on the good. There is nothing hid from the heat thereof It is the
life of aU that live, naturaUy, morally, or sphituaUy, It is ever Avith
us, ready to enter the heart, Avhenever the heart is disposed and pre
pared to receive it. Rather, Ave should say, it is ever in the heart,
dweUing in the natural and moral affections which it has inspired or
implanted, and ready to unfold itself as spiritual love, Avhen the heart
is wUUiig to yield to its expansive and elevating power. The heart is
not opened to receive the Lord's love by simply desiring it, but by
removing the evUs that oppose its entrance. Self-indulgence shuts
the door of the heart, self denial opens it. We have only, then, to
deny ourselves the gratifications of self love, that the love of God may
take its place, and this love wUl draw us to that wisdom which wUl
make us wise unto salvation. One word on the dogmatic sense of the

158 ST. JOHN, [Chap, VL
Lord's words. That the Lord does not speak of the Father as one
divine person, and of himself as another, is evident from his own
Avords on another occasion. Here he declares that no one can come
to him except the Father draw him : on another occasion he says,
" and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, avUI draAv all men unto me"
(chap. xii. 32). Whatever we understand the Lord to mean by the
Father, it is clear that he and the Father are one. One and yet dis
tinct ; one Person, but distinct Essentials. One and yet distinct, like
soul and body, wiU and understanding, in man. So, iu the Lord, are
Divinity and Humanity, Love and Wisdom. The Lord himseU
draws men to Mm ; yet his love is that which draws them, and his
wisdom is that to which they are draAvn. As love draAVS to Avisdom,
wisdom leads to love. But this we wUl consider when we come to
the Lord's discourse Avith PhUip (chap. xiv. 6).
45. Jesus further says. It is written in the prophets. And they shall
be all taught of God. Every one therefore that hath heard, and hath
leurned ofthe Father, cometh unto me. The Lord does not here speak
of those who are taught of God, as distmguished from those who are
instructed of men, but as opposed to those who are taught of self In
the matter of salvation, we are either taught of God or tmrselves. If
taught of God, we see the truth from the love of God, if taught of our
selves, we see it from the love of self. As the Lord, as the eternal
Wisdom, came forth from the eternal Love, so must our acknowledg
ment of bis wisdom come forth from his love. This is to hear and
learn of the Father. And every one that hath heard, and hath learned
of the Father, cometh to the Son. That wdiich enters by the hearing
enters through the affection, to Avhich the hearing corresponds : and
every affection, which receives the Lord's love, comes to his truth.
To be more specific, the affections turn the thoughts ; for it is affection
that hears, and thought that learns.
46. The divine teacher continues : Not thcd any man hath seen
the Father, save he which is of God, he huth seen the Futher. Accord
ing to the teachmg of the Old Testament, no one can see God and
live ; according to the teaching of the Son, no one can see the Father
but in the Son. Eternal Avisdom alone can comprehend eternal love,
and enable us in our degree to comprehend it. Therefore the Lord
elsewhere says, " No mau knoweth the Father save the Son, and he
to whomsoever the Sou wiU reveal him" (Matt. xi. 27). The Father
thaws us to the Son, and when we yield to Ms attractiA'e love, the
Son, as wisdom, leads us to the Father. But Avhile the Lord's words
remind us, that it is necessary for us to hear and learn of the "Father,

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN, I59
we are not to understand that Ave can hear or learn of Mm directly.
"Ye have neither heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seeu
his shape." The Lord's divinity can oMy be seen and heard in his
humanity, his love in his Avisdom. As the Lord, as the eternal
Avisdom came forth from the eternal love, so must our acknowled"--
meiit of his wisdom come forth from his love.
47. The iinpossibility of our seeing the Father is compensated by
our bemg able to see the Son ; ior he who seeth the Son seeth the
F''ather also. Love, which ctinnot be seen, or knoAvn, such as it is in
itself, can be seen, so far as it can come to human apprehension, as it
manifests itself in Avisdom. So the Divinity can be seen in the tlu-
inanity. Jesus, as the manifested Jehovah, is therefore the only
object of faith and worsMp. Hence our Lord's words. Verily, verily,
I say unto you. He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. If he
who sees the Son, sees the Father also, he who believes on the Son
beUeves on the Father also.
48-50. Alludmg to his former declaration, that he was the truo
bread, Jesus says, / am that bread of life. And he proceeds to point
out the difference between that which had been given to the Jews,
and that wMch was now offered to the whole human race. Your
fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the
bread which came down from heaven, that a. man may eat thereof, and
not die. The Jews who had eaten of the manna, died naturally ; those
who eat of the true brestd, die not spirituaUy. In the literal sense the
cases are not parallel. {.But the Lord spake accordmg to the corres
pondence between natural and sphitual things. The manna of the
Israelites fed the body, the true bread, which Chiist is, feeds the soM ;
the manna did not prevent natural death, but the bread of life saves
from sphitual death.^ But there is a deeper view than this. As the
manna was the type of the Lord as the truo bread, it expressed and
represented the whole means of maintaiumg the reUgious life under
the IsraeUtish dispensation ; and as the Israelitish was but the shadow
of a true church, nothing that belonged to it Avas, in itself, living or
life-givmg. As the blood of bulls and goats could not cleanse from
sin, neither coMd the bread of theh meat-offerings give or support the
life of righteousness. Death was written on every thing that consti
tuted the Israehtish church ; and so far as that church was concerned,
death was the portion of those who lived under it. Not that there
was no sphitual life or salvation to those Avho formed it ; but life and
salvation were received by them through Him to whom all theh
symbolic worship pointed. Those of them who did eat of the manna

160 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VL
in faith and obedience, ate by anticipation of the true bread, which
was to come down from heaven, and Avas given for the life of the world,
the only bread of Avhich a man may eat, and not die,
51. The Lord further pursues this subject, for the purpose of mtro-
ducing a more perfect and comprehensive analogy of his life-giving
poAver. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If a
man eat ofthis bread he shall live for ever; and the bread which I will
give is my fiesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Lord
had caUed himself the bread of life ; he now caUs himself the Uving
bread : he had declared that the eating of this bread gave immuMty
from death ; he noAV declares that it secures eternal life. It is true
that whatever gives life must itself be living, but it is oMy by re
ceiving Ufe from the Lord that we come to see that the Lord is life.
It is true also that deliverance or immunity from death is the preser
vation and possession of life ; yet to be saved from death and to re
ceive life are two distinct things, one bemg the removal of evU, and
the other the reception of good ; and one precedes the other, for evil
must be removed before good can be received. Another distinction
our Lord now mtroduces. He had spoken of himself as bread ; he
now speaks of hmiself as fiesh. Taken from the JeAvish economy,
these analogies are found in the manna, Avith which the people were
fed, and in the flesh of the sacrifices which they offered. These were
laid upon the altar, as food which the Lord was pleased to accept at
their hands, and were called the bread of God. But m the offermgs
AA'hich are caUed sacrifices, as distinguished from burnt-offermgs,
certain parts Avere burnt upon the altar, and the remaining parts were
eaten by the priests, and, in some cases, by the people. In offering
the sacrifice, the priest, besides being a type of Jesus, represented
the persons Avho offered, as Jesus himself stood in the place of the
people, he having come to do for them what they were no longer
able or willing to do for themselves. When, therefore, Jesus declared
that he Avas the living bread, and that the bread he woMd give was
his flesh, he claimed to be to his people Avhat the flesh of the sacrifice
and the manna had been to their fathers. In him mankind have the
divme and spiritual principles, by which they have eternal life, that
Avere foreshadowed in the means by which the representative people
had temporal life. The bread of Avhich he had been speakhig was
his flesh, his very body, as he afterAvards expresses it. And this
must be regarded as more than a figure ; for if the Lord gives from
himself that Avliich nourishes the soul, he must give of his oavu sub
stance ; nor can we live by any other. But we need not enter further

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. 161
into the consideration of this declaration till we come to one still
more minute.
52. We need hardly Avonder that the Jews strove among themselves,
saying, Hoiv can this mun give us his fiesh to eat ? How gross their
conception, Avhen, after aU the Divine Teacher had said about himself,
as the bread that came down from heaven to give eternal life, they should
be utterly unable to rise above the merest natural idea of Ms flesh, by
which the Avoiid was to be fed. Yet, why should we severely blame
them ? Do not even some CMistians believe, that the flesh of AvMoh
the Lord spake was that of the material body he then inhabited, such
CMistians differing from the Jews only in supposing that they now
eat of the Lord's body by a figure ? They receive by faith the merit
of the Lord's Ufe and sufferings in the flesh, elevating their thouo-hts
Uttle above those of the JeAvs. But the Jews differed in tMs re
spect, that they considered it impossible for the Lord to give them
his flesh to eat. They are the true types of the natural mau, who
apprehends aU spiritual truth naturally, aud then objects to it because
it is natural.
53. This doubting question brought out the Lord's doctrine on the
subject in all its plamness and fulness. Except ye eat the fiesh of
ihe Son of man, and drink Ms blood, ye have no life in you. When
we are doubting or disputing about a truth, or even when we are
hesitating whether we shaU admit it, how necessary is it sometimes to be
reminded that life and death depend upon the decision and choice Ave
make. If there is no life in us, except we eat the flesh and drmk the
blood of the Son of man, it is of the very first importance that we
understand clearly what is meant by this singular and startling
declaration. What are the flesh and blood of the Son of man?'
Flesh and blood constitute the aU of the body, and in this instance
of the Lord's body. The Lord, as he afterwards explained, did not
speak hterally but spiritually ; he did not speak of his material, but
of his glorified and divine body. This body, in which he rose from
the dead, and in which he now is, consists of two divine Essentials,
which are Goodness and Truth. For the Lord's body is his Divine
Humanity, or Ms divmity made human, and thus brought down to
the capacities and necessities of faUen man. His divme goodness and
truth, or love and wisdom, Avhich constitute the very body in which
the (Uvinity now dwells, are the life of angels and men ; they are the
food of theh souls, without receiving which they can have no life m
them. So true is it, therefore, that except we eat the flesh and drink
the blood of the Son of man, we have no sphitual life. TMs oMy
L

162 ST, JOHN, [Chap, VI.
living and life-giving food comes to us both directly from the Lord and
through his Word. The name Son of man means the Lord as Divme
Truth, and thus as the Word, whose goods and truths are the Lord's
flesh and blood. Eatmg and drinking are expressive and important in
their symbolism. These physical acts express the correspondmg
mental acts of receivmg, digesting, and assimUating the spiritual
elements of life, which acts may be expressed by the single word
appropriation, in the sense of making a thing our own, by its actuaUy
being made a part of our sphitual bodies, as the food we eat becomes
a part of our natural bodies. This doctrine is thus grounded in ana
logy ; so that every time we eat or drink, for the nourishment of our
perishable bodies, we have a living and instructive image, that will
teach us, if we are disposed to learn, hoAv the immortal soM must be
nourished, if we Avould have eternal life. But the most perfect image
of this is presented in the Holy Supper, instituted to be a perpetual
representation of the Divine principles of Goodness and Truth, which
constitute the Lord's glorified Body, on which our souls are to feed,
and by which they are to be nourished unto eternal life.
54. The Lord continues to set forth and enforce this divine lesson.
Whoso eateth my flesh, und drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and
I will raise him up at the lust duy. He thus gives the affirmative, as
he had just before given the negative, side of this momentous truth,
renewmg the promise of resurrection uuto life, Avheii the day of our
regeneration is ended. And as no one has life except by eating his
flesh and drinking his blood ; so, Avhoso eateth and drinketh hath
eternal life. The language implies the freeness of the offered mercy.
Any one and every one may come to the Saviour, that he may be
fiUed with his love and truth, which, Avhile they are freely offered,
may be freely received.
55. The reason AA'hy those who eat the flesh and (frmk the blood of
the Son of man have eternal life, the Lord declares. For my flesh is
meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. Flesh and blood are
essential goodness and truth, Avliich are meat and drink mdeed, com
pared, not only Avith the food of the body, but with all other food of
the mind. The mind requires moral and intellectual food, besides
that Avhich is strictly religious and spiritual ; but, compared with all
such food, that AA'hich the Lord gives is meat indeed. All others are
accessories, this is essential ; all others are temporal, this is eternal.
56. The Lord says stiU further. He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. The appropriation
of the Lord's goodness and truth makes us, as it were, parts of himself.

Chap. VL] ST, JOHN, 163
not indeed parts of Ms divine body, but members of his mystical body,
Uving members of the Church on earth, and afterwards of the Church
m heaven. The conjunction Avith the Lord, Avhich the reception of
Ms love and truth secures, is most intimate ; and it is important to
observe that it is reciprocal- — we dweU in him and he dAvells m us.
TMs mutual life, if Ave maj' so express it, gives us a finite participa
tion in all the Lord's attributes, in his mercy, truth, hohness ; and in
all the blessedness which belongs to them. This mutual indAveUmg
of the Lord and man, is produced and continued by man's constantly
returning, in life and worship, the diA'ine operation of which every
one is the subject. The Lord dweUs in us by action, Ave iu him by
reaction. The life Avhich the believer thus receives from the Lord is
the divine Ufe accommodated to his reception — the hfe of the divine
in the human. This statement of our Lord is a most edifying one.
We are saved, not merely by the Lord living m us, but by our living in
him. -)«- He is in every one, but every one is not in Mm. He is in
us by his omnipresence ; and where he is, there are his goodness and
truth ; aU that is requhed, therefore, for our salvation and happmess,
is that Ave be m Mm. If Ave loved him as he loves us, we should be
in Mm, as he is in us.
57. The Lord further says. As the living Father hath sent me, and
I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
This reveals the purpose and use of the Lord's incarnation. The Father
sent the Son. We must not think of this sending and coming as
having anything to do with space. God, who is omMpresent, cannot
come personally nearer to us by any new means. Sendmg and
commg, m the Divine sense, can mean only a way of maMug his
presence obvious or felt — bringing Mmself nearer to our apprehen
sions and feehngs. This the Eternal did by assuming human nature,
the effect of which was to bring his divine love, wisdom, and power,
thus himself, nearer to our human thoughts and affections : not
merely nearer to the senses, as was the case with those who saw and
heard the Lord m the days of his personal manifestation, but nearer
fo our conceptions, by a mental realization of the power and actions
-of Jesus AvhUe he sojourned on earth, and nearer especially to our
human facMties of understanding and avUI. By mcarnation, he who
dwelt m the inmost of the soul, as the secret place of the Most High,
.and in the heaven of angels as his habitation, came down into the
outermost region of human thought and feelmg, and thus into the
Church on earth as the court of his temple, and so brought Mmself
-forth to view. The human nature which the Lord glorified is there-

164 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VL
fore a living power, that can transform ours into the image of his oavu.
This humanity of the Lord has aU the life and power of his divinity.
When the Lord says, " I live by the Father," he teaches us that the
human lives by the divine, that the life of the Human is the Divine
life brought doAvn to man. But the sublime practical truth Avhich the
Lord here teaches, is that with Avhich he concludes, Avhen, he says,
" as I live by the Father; so hb that eateth me shall live by
ME." This clearly shoAvs that in order to feed the souls of men, the
Almighty brought himself down to them. If Ave may so express it,
the Divine feeds the human, and the human feeds us. In other
words, the Lord's humanity prepares, by accommodation, the divine
gifts and graces for human reception. Very obvious is it then, that
but for the medium of the Lord's humanity, no saving grace and truth
could reach and nourish the mind of man. Thus it is that the Lord
lives by the Father, and we live by him.
58. Truly this is the bread tlud came down from heaven . not as your
futhers did eut manna and are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live for ever. We may here speak of this subject in its particMar
and practical meaning. The manna, as distinguished from the true
bread, is the good aa'McIi man receiA'es from heaven during chUdhood
and youth, before he has come to the age of rationality and Uberty, and
before regeneration has commenced actually. The true bread, Avhich
the Lord the Saviour came down from heaven to give, is the good
which man receives from the Lord out of heaven during the regenerate
life. The good of childhood is not truly good, because not sphitual and
saving. That which man receives from the Lord by regeneration is
truly good, because it is chosen as necessary for salvation. The first.
state passes away, and if it is the only state, the soul dies sphituaUy
and eternally ; but the second state does not, and be who enters upon
and perseveres in it Uves for ever. This state is often caUed a resurrec
tion, for it is a raising up of the good of early hfe into a new and
higher condition, making it trMy spiritual aud Uving.
59. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Caper
naum. A synagogue, we have seen, signifies doctrine, and Capernaum
an external condition of the church. To say in the synagogue, whUe-
teuchiiig in Capernaum, is to bring forth internal truths out of the ex
ternal truths of the church.
60. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said,.
This is an hard saying ; who can hear it ? The great doctrine AvMch.
the Lord had now dehvered to his hearers offended, not only the Jews,.
but even many Avho had become his disciples. The truths of the gos-

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. 165
pel are hard to the natural mind, and those Avho are not yet freed from
its dominion, are easUy turned aside by their practical application.
These nominal disciples considered this saying, about the necessity of
eating the fiesh and drinking the blood of the Son of man, as too hard
for any one to hear ; too much opposed both to the intellect and the
Avill to be accepted as a matter of faith and Ufe.
61. 'Wlien Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured ut it,
he said unto them. Doth this offend you? Another instance Ave have here
of the Lord's omniscience. It would appear that the disciples murmured
among themselves privately, and in themselves secretly. It may seem
surprising that they should not have knoAvn the power of Jesus to per
ceive their mm-murings, after the evidence he had given of his divinity.
But are we not aU liable to thmk and act as they did ? We confess
that the Lord is omniscient, and yet we often fhink aud act as if he
neither saAv nor heard us. There is another lesson to us iu this and
similar mtimations of the Lord's perception of our thoughts and acts.
When the letter tells us, that Jesus kncAv in himself that his disciples
murmured at Ms doctrine, the spirit teaches us, that our murnimings
penetrate into the interior life of the truth, as it is present in our mmds,
and react against it, so as to weaken or even destroy its power in and
over us. The subject of the present murmuring was the Lord's requh-
ing his hearers to eat his flesh and drink his blood. And he demands
of them. Doth this offend you ? Startlhig it may have been, when first
put forth ; but the language and hnagery of theh oavu Scriptures might
have led them to divine its meaning. They had been accustomed to
eat the flesh of their own sacrifice as a holy thmg. There AA'as, there
fore, nothing incomprehensible or inconsistent in the idea of eating the
flesh of him Avho was to become the great sacrifice. The whole of
theh sacrificial worship pointed to this great fact. Why then should
tMs be to the Jew a stumbling-stone and rock of offence ? Because
they were carnally minded. And the same cause lies at the foundation
of all stumbling at this grand doctrine of the gospel. We Avould rather
eat, " every mau the flesh of his oavu arm," or appropriate and trust to
the poAver of our OAvn natural goodness, than (haw our soul's support
from the goodness of the Lord, the Saviour, who came doAvn from
heaven to feed us Avith his oavu flesh.
62. Even in enunciating this requirement, the Lord had made but a
moderate demand on their faith and practice, but now he directs their
minds to something more marvellous. What und if ye shall see the
Son of man rj..scend up v:here h.e was before ? That the Lord had coma
down from heaven, Ms disciples, we may conclude, had been able

166 ST, JOHN, [Chap, VL
to comprehend ; but none of them, even the greatest, had yet, nor did
they have at any subsequent period of his life on eartb, any just con
ception of what he meant by ascending up where he was before.
But how few of the Lord's disciples, at the present day, are able to
receive this saymg? Many are stUl offended at it. AU CMistians
admit that the Lord made a sensible ascent into heaven ; but few con
ceive, or Avill be disposed to believe, Avhat that ascent mvolved. The
Lord's coming doAvn from heaven mvolves the making Ms divmity
human, and Ms ascending up into heaven invoh'es the makmg his hu
manity divine. Many disciples acknowledge that the Lord's diviMty
put on humanity ; few acknowledge that his humaMty put on divinity.
So hard is it to hear this essential and necessary truth of the gospel,
that hardly any one in the professing Christian church at this day
admits it. Those who would be disciples of the Lord indeed, must
receive this precious truth, and must strive to reahze it, by ascendmg
with the Lord into the heavens of a new and beatified Ufe.
63. To encourage his disciples to leave the carnal notions and incli
nations that caused them to stumble, the Lord teUs them. It is the
Spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, und they are life. When the Lord
spoke of his flesh, he meant not the flesh of his material body, but of
his (Uvme body. The soul is quickened by the operation of the spirit,
by its receiving living principles from the hving body of a glorified
Saviour ; by its partaking of the Arirtues of a (Uvine, not of a finite
humanity. The sayings of the Lord are to be spiritually understood.
They are spirit and life ; they msphe the understandhig and animate
the heart. We may understand these words of our Lord to have a
wider application than the immediate subject of his adchess. All Ms
words were sphitual and living. Uttered by his human Ups, they
came from the mfinite depths of Ms divme mmd, and Avere, like him
self, divine Avisdom clothed m a finite human form. So far as they
relate to the present subject, they contain a very important truth. We
are aU, Uke his early disciples, disposed to judge by appearances.
There is no danger of our following them, in supposing that the Lord
requires his disciples UteraUy to eat his material fiesh and drmk his
material blood. But the resMt sheAvs that we are liable to take the
Lord's Avords in a figurative rather than a spiritual sense. '?-Many
believe that the Lord's flesh and blood did, and do yet, profit. The
flesh Avliich suffered, aud the blood which was shed, are believed to
have had a vicarious value in the Father's estimation ; and the dis
ciple is supposed to receive them, through faith in theh efficacy, in

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. 167
receiving the pardon and sanctification Avhich the Saviour has purchased
for his people. The Lord spake in the language, not of metaphor, but
of analogy. By his fiesh and blood, he meant the flesh and blood of
his (Uvine, not of his material body. He meant the divine principles
of Ms glorified humanity, which are analogous to the flesh and blood
of the body in which his disciples beheld him. Unless understood as
referring to the Lord's humanity, Ave enthely miss the meaning of his
words, and their important signification m relation to ourselves. It
was because his Divine Ioa'c and Avisdom had ceased to be received
by mankind, in such a measure and manner as to be sufficient for their
salvation, that the Lord became man, by which his love and wisdom
were brought into a new relation to them, so as that they might be
accommodated to their altered state and condition, as faUen and degene
rate creatures, aU whose faculties aud poAA-ers had become enfeebled.
64. NotwithstancUng this encouraging explanation, all could not re
ceive the Lord's saying. The Lord told them so. But there ure some
of you tlvd believe not. This evidently means that they were possessed
by the spirit of unbeUef, AA'hich was proof against the clearest evidence.
Jesus kneio from the beginning who they were tlud helieved not, and
even who should betray him. Again the ommscieuce of the Saviour is
set before us. Foreknowledge does not interfere with human freedom.
It may be said that the fate of aU men is aheady decided. Yes ; but by
what they wUl choose for themselves, God does not decide for them ;
he only knows how they will decide. His knowledge, so far from domg
them injury, does them good ; for his foreknoAvledge enables Mm to apply
his Providence so as to moderate evils which it cannot prevent.
65. Agam the Lord repeats his saying. No mem can come unto me,
except it were given him of my Father, and tells them that it Avas
because he knew their unbelief that he said this unto them. This
teaches, we have seen, that men must be draAvn to belief by love.
Divine Love is ever present and pressmg upon the hearts of all men ;
and if they harden theh hearts agamst it, that cannot be the result of the
wUl of God, but of man. We may remark here that this often repeated
declaration is but another and higher form of the doctrine, that charity
is the first-born grace of the soul, and the first principle of the church.
Where there is no charity in the heart, there can be no faith in the
understanding. Charity consists in doing the wiU of God ; for " he
that doeth my commandments, he it is that loveth me;" and he that
doeth the wUl of God shaU know of the doctrme whether it be of God.
All these are but different modes of stating the same fact, that true
faith, though it belongs to the intellect, has its root m the heart.

168 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VL
66. From that time many of his disciples went hack, and wcdked no
more with him. The first great exposition of his principles, or of the
principles of eternal life, scattered his disciples. Hoav expressive the
language, hoAV melancholy the fact ! They turned their backs upon
the Author of eternal life, and their feet from the path that would have
led them to heaven. Hoav should Ave be Avarned of the danger, of the
folly and ingratitude, of turning our minds away from the lessons of
eternal truth, and our Uves from the example of eternal goodness. How
fearful the state — "they Avent back, and Avalked no more Avith Mm !"
67. There Avere others left after this defection, but only, it AvoMd
appear, those who were called apostles. Then said Jesus unto the
twelve. Will ye cdso go cncay ? How affecting this appeal ; not for Ms
OAAUi sake, but for the sake of those to Avhom it was addressed. The
apostles were, no doubt, compared Avith the disciples at this period,
spiritual men, and represent spiritual princijiles. Like some other
questions of our Lord, this is intended for the hearers' refiection, not
for the speaker's information. It is designed to lead to self-examination,
that the disciples may discover the ground of their belief in the Lord,
and of their adherence to his cause. Considered in reference to the
individual believer, it teaches the necessity, Avhen any backsliding or
disobedience arises out of the corruptions and reasonings of the natural
mind, of looking into the inner life, to see whether this is also inclined
to yield.
68. Happy AAill it be for us if there be found in the midst of our
affections a faith like that of Peter among the tAvelve, ready to exclaim,
Lord, to whom shcdl ice go ? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Among the many memorable sayings that occur in the Scriptures, this
is one of the most instructive and precious. When temptations or
allurements, actmg upon our perverse hearts and frail nature, Avould
turn us away from Him who has fed and helped us hitherto, hoAV
desirable and ne'cessary the confiding question. Lord, to whom shall we
go 1 Peter's noble exclamation is but another form of the Psalmist's —
"Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none on earth I deshe
besides thee." (Ps. Ixxui. 25.) And Avhoni shall the faithful desire,
and to whom shall they go, since the Lord, and he alone, has the
Avords.of eternal life? OMy the eternal W^ord has the words of eter
nal life. The apostle's declaration of confidence in the Lord forms a
noble contt-ast to the Aveak and faithless conduct of those disciples who
found the grand doctrine of Jesus, respecting himself as the giver of
life, an hard saying, and aa'Iio went back and walked no more Avith
him. An example like that AvMch these miserable disciples gave, AvhUe

Chap. VL] ST. JOHN. 169
it has a great influence over the Aveak aud vacillating, tends oMy to
strengthen the strong and confirm the steadfast. Crucial times and
states are good for the church and for the individual Christian. They
remove the branches that bear no fruit, and purge and strengthen the
others, that they may produce the more. Nor is tMs a trial only
among the disciples ; it is also within them. It separates betAveen the
true and the false, the genuine and the spurious, in their own minds,
and raises the true and genuhie into a closer connection and more inti
mate relation Avith the supreme good AvMoh the Lord is. It brmgs out
more fuUy that lovmg and hving faith, of Avhioh Peter was so worthy
a representative. 69. And Avhat a noble testimony does this bold and devoted disciple
bear to the character of him Avhom he and his feUow apostles were
resolved to foUoAv. And we believe, und are sure, thcd thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. This is the famous confession which
procured for Mm, Avho pronounced it, the name of Peter, or a Rock, on
which the Lord builds his church, and agamst Avhich the gates of heU
shaU not prevaU. The acknowledgment of Jesus as the Christ, or,
according to some copies, the Holy One, is hi unison Avith Peter's
preAious declaration; for Christ, and also the Holy One, are names
applied to the Lord as the Divine Truth, the F'ountain of truth and
holiness to men, and to the church as formed of the faithful. The
confidence with AvMch the apostle speaks is deserving of our admira
tion. " We believe, and are sure." The behef of the apostles, in
whose name Peter spoke, had no background of uncertamty. They
did not, like some disciples, consider it presumptuous to be confident;
much less did they regard faith the more Avorthy, the less clear the
eAudence on AA'hich it rests. True, hoAvever, it is, that the faith and
certamty of the true disciple do not rest entirely upon outAvard, but
chiefly and essentiaUy upon inward evidence. His is a faith that rests
upon knowledge, a certainty that has grown out of experience, that the
Lord is the author of immutable and saving truth, and of spiritual and
eternal lUe. He, who uttered the ini23assioned words we are noAv con
sidering, knew from conviction and experience that Jesus was the
infinite Wisdom of infinite Love. As if he had said, Our understand
ings teU us, our hearts assure us, thtit thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God ; the Truth that came forth from Love. We have seen
and have felt that thou art all that feeble t^nd sinful man needs or can
deshe. 70, To tMs fervid declaration and confession of Peter, the Lord
answers, Have not I chosen you twelve ? and one of you is a devil ?

170 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VI.
This would seem intended to intimate, that although the apostles as a
body remained faithful, when many ofthe disciplesproved faitMess, yet
there was even among their chosen number a root of bitterness, and an
element of something stUl Averse than defection. The apostles repre
sent aU the principles which constitute the church in the human mmd.
But where they are caUed the twelve, they signify all things pertaining
to faith, by which man is imtiated into celestial and spiritual states
during regeneration ; for whilst man is being regenerated, thus whUst
from being dead he is made alive, or from being earthly he is made
heavenly, he is led by the Lord tiirough various states ; the general
states tMough AvMch he is led being meant by the Lord's successively
choosing the tv/elve apostles, as, in' the Old Testament, they had been
represented by the successive birth of the tAvelve patriarchs. One of
the apostles was a devU, to represent the corrupt selfhood of man,
Avhich enters more or less into all Ms activities, especiaUy during the
early stages of the regenerate life. This element m human natm-e was
represented by the serpent, wMch originally deceived man, wMch
reigned from Adam to Christ, wMch tempted and betrayed the Lord,
and was only finally overcome and cast down by his completed work
of redemption.
71, The one to whom the Lord referred was Judus Iscariot, the son
of Simon : for he it was thut should betra.y him, being one of the twelve.
Judas, the son of Simon, is the symbol of evU derived from falsity.
Each of us, even hi our partiaUy regenerate state, has a Judas m Ms
own heart ; for Satan .stUl comes among the sons of God, even when
they assemble m the divine presence. Nay, Judas is chosen among
the twelve, not because he is approved by the Being who chooses
him, but because he is the only one that is there to choose for
the place and office. By this the Lord would teach us that, even
when we are able from a shicere faith to acknoAvledge him as the Christ,
the Son of the living God, Ave have lurking in our hearts one that may
even betray him Avhoni Ave rejoice to confess ; but AA'ho avUI himseU
be crushed under the weight of his own transgression. In the regene
rate man, however, the Judas of his heart is not permitted to com
mit the crime of the actual betrayal of the Lord. The temptation to
betray the Lord who bought him may come from hell, and act upon
the evil of Ms corrupt nature, but the deed remains undone ; the temp
tation ends in the rejection of the evil tMough avMcIi the temptation
comes, and the Lord triumphs over aU the power of the enemy.

Chap. VIL] ST, JOHN. 171

CHAPTER VII.
1. TMs chapter begins by informmg us that. After these things Jesus
walked in Galilee : for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. It is almost needless to say that the Lord, AA'hose
moral poAver, as exempUfied in the preceding chapter, was itself a protec
tion to him, and Avho had aU power at his command, could not be iu fear
of the Avrath or machination of the Jews. He Avalked in GalUee, and
not in JcAvry, to represent as Avell as to exemplify, that his truth
and love find acceptance Avith the simple-minded out of the church,
Avhen they are hated and refused by the wise and prudent Avithin
it ; and that these prmciples have their active presence where there is
goodness, even when accomjianied with comparative ignorance, and
not where there is loioAvledge Avithout it. This is especiaUy meant
by Ms "Avalking" m GalUee, and not in Jewry; to Avalk meaning
to live. The Lord walks among those who live according to his
precepts. 2. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. This Avas the
greatest of the three annual festivals of the Jewish Church. It was
instituted in memory of the most holy AvorsMp of the Lord in taber
nacles by the most ancient people, and of their conjunction Avith him
by love. As typical of the last stage of the regenerate life, it signified
the implantation of good, and thus fnU deliverance from evil. These
feasts describe the regeneration of man, and the glorification of the
Lord, The attendance of Jesus at these feasts involves both these
meanings. The feast of tabernacles is said to have been nigh at hand,
to signify the approach of the state it represented, and the certainty of
its accomplishment in the completion of the Lord's glorifying and
saAung Avork ; for nearness, in the spiritual sense, signifies certainty
and proximity of state.
3. His brethren therefore said unto hi'in. Depart hence, and go into
Judea, that thy disciples may see the works thut thou doest. As
this feast represents the highest state, it is connected with a circum
stance that represents the Lord's being tempted to enter it from the
lowest motives. The Lord's brethren, according to the flesh, repre
sented the principle of the flesh itself, as it existed in the Lord's ma
ternal humanity. His brethren, it is observable, demanded Avhat he
MmseK intended to do in gomg up to the feast ; but their demand
differed from the Lord's mtention as to the time, manner, and purpose.
Theh demand represented a temptation of the Lord to do from natural

172 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VIL
love and according to natural prudence, Avhat shoMd be done from
Divine love according to Divine Avisdom.
4. The ground on which they urged Jesus to go to Judea, was that
no man doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known
openly. But Jesus did not seek notoriety. The AVorks that he did
made his name Avidely knoAvii ; yet not only did he never seek jiub-
licity, but often enjoined sUence respecting him on others, and frequently
sought retirement. The reason that he had never acted on the principles
of Ms brethren, as expressed in their saying, If thou doest these things,
shew thyself to the world, no doubt Avas, because the desire to be
knoAvn, or, as the Avord means, talked of, is a natural and selfish deshe.
A good man may have to submit to publicity, but that is not Ms object
ill doing good. Besides, " the Avorld," as it is in itself, and as mentioned
in Scripture, is opposite to heaven ; and on this account, the Lord
never sought to be the object of its observation or its praise.
5. That tMs dem.and did not originate in any true perception of the
Lord's purpose, or any real conviction of the efficacy of the course they
recommended, appears from the fact that neither did his brethren believe
in him. The Lord was the very Divine Truth, and to tMs the mater
nal element in his humanity was in its very nature opposed m aU its
ends, and in the means of their accomplishment. So, hi those who
are following the Lord in the regeneration, the natural man is opjiosed
to the spiritual.
6. This is further declared by the Lord himself : My time is not yet
come : hut your time is ahvays ready. The spiritual man goes on unto
perfection, but the natural man knows no change for the better. Even
in the Lord, the Son of man had a progression in Avhich the son of
Mary had no share. The proper state of the Son of man was future,
that of the son of Mary was present. The Lord's time was his state of
glorification, AA'hich had not yet arrived ; his brethren's time was theh
state of confirmed naturabmindedness, Avhich was present. Time means
state. The state of the Lord's glorification AA-as not yet fulfiUed ; the
state of Ms natural-minded brethren was aheady confirmed. The
AvorsMp of the spiritual man is from sphitual love, and is therefore in
correspondence Avith it ; the worship of the natural man is from natural
love, Avhich has no harmony with his act, and is not changed by it.
7. Our Lord reveals the ground of this difference. The world cannot
lude you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the deeds
thereof are evil. In the mind of the natural man there is no conflict
Avith the Avorld; thus no temptation. In the mind of the spiritual man
there is ; as in the mind of the Lord, far more than in aU mere men.

Chap. VIL] ST. JOHN. 173
there Avas. But a time of temptation is a time of fasting, for fasting
corresponds to seU- denial. In such a state, the spiritual man cannot
go up unto the feast, cannot relish and appropriate good and truth,
wMoh feasts and festivals signify. The natural man has no such temp
tations ; his fasts and his feasts are both equally formal, and may,
therefore, be entered on at any time ; Ms state is ahvays readj'. The
declaration of Jesus to his brethren, that the world hated him because
he testified of it that its works are evil, reveals the true ground of all
the hatred and opposition Avhich Jesus ever has received, and which he
ever AviU receive, from the world. Truth is hated by the natural man
and by the natural mind, because it testifies of their mherent corruption
and evU deeds. Yet this is one of the great uses, and is indeed the
ultimate use of Divine Truth, both as revealed and manifested. So
that the function of the Truth, for wMch the natural man hates it,
is that for which the sphitual man most prizes it. He desires to know
the truth, because he knoAvs that the truth avUI make him free from
bondage and sin.
8. The Lord therefore said. Go ye up) unto this feast : I go not up
yet unto this feast ; for my time is not yet full come. The Lord's
counsellmg Ms brethren to go up unto the feast indicates that even
natural men learn from the Word to engage in some kind of rehgious
worsMp. Besides, as it Avas the dn.ty of cA'ery Israelite to attend the feast
instituted by Moses, the Lord only counseUed his bretMen to render
obedience to the law. He himself attended them in order to fulfil the
law, but he had a much Mgher purpose than the Jcavs avIio Avent up
to Jerusalem. He had a work to accomplish in connection with them
as their antitype, which others kncAV not of His time for going uji
was not yet come.
9. When he had. said these things unto them, he abode still in
Galilee. The Lord abides Avith those who are in receptive states,
especially is he present with those who are in good, even when they
may have less of the inteUigence of truth than others.
10. Bid when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto
the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. The Lord's gomg up as
it were in secret describes that state of the regenerate mind in AvMch
there is a Mdden operation and an imperceptible progress of diAine
and heaveMy tmth. What is present or takes place in the internal
man is unperceived ; it is only Avhen it comes into the external that
it becomes manifest. TMs imperceptible presence and operation of
tbe Lord in the internal is meant by his going up as if m secret. It is
not indeed absolutely unknown, for it is revealed to faith, but it is

174 ST. JOHN, [Chap, VIL
unknoAA'n to consciousness ; therefore it is said that Jesus went up as
it were in secret.
11. The reason that tMs presence and operation are as it were
secret or hidden is, lest divine truth should be so opposed by the
evUs of the external man as to destroy it. These evils are the Jews
who sought Jesus at the feast, and said, 'Wliere is he?
12. The natural mind is not however Avholly possessed by those
evUs. There was much murmuring among the people concerning him:
for some said. He is a good mun: others said. Nay; but he deceiveth
the people. This conflict of opinion is not oMy in the world but in
the nihid itself, and is between the good and the evU, the true and the
false, that have place in every one during his progress in the spiritual
life. And such a conflict is the experience even of the best, for man
is permitted to come into a state of doubt before he affirms, that Ms
reception of the truth may be more interior, and, by triumphmg over
doubt, may afterwards be undisturbed \ij it.
13, These conflicting states of doubt are not, however, always out
ward and open, but are often the mternal Avorkmgs of the yet divided
mind. And this is meant by the record that no man spake openly of
him for fear of the Jews. The fear of the Jews implies that there is
m such cases a fear of the opposing evU ; and as this fear must
have been felt by those who spoke AveU of him, it implies a fear lest
the truth should suffer through the mfluence and opposition of evil
and falsity. One class of the people favoured Jesus because he was a
good man, wMle another concluded that he deceived tbe people. Yet
goodness is the best test of truth. What is the practical tendency of
a doctrine ? This ought to be a primary question in deciding on its
merits. We are all too ready to raise the cry against auy new
development of reUgious truth. He deceiveth the people. Let us never
forget that every doctrine has a moral as Avell as an intellectual side,
and that this is the golden side of the shield.
14. Jesus, who was the subject of those disputations, about the
midst of the feast, went up into the temple, and taught. The midst of
the feast is sphituaUy the inmost of the good Avhich it represented, and
the temple is the divine truth, Avhich is the temple of the Lord's
Body and of his Word. This signifies that the Lord from the inmost
of his love, by means of his truth, teaches the Avay of eternal hfe. TMs
appearance of the Lord in the midst of his avoAved enemies and secret
friends is remarkable in itself, but still more so iu its sphitual sigMfica-
tioii. I'or Avlien the mind is agitated by conflicting views of the truth, '
the Lord appears, aud finds his opportunity of strengthening the

Chap, VII.J ST. JOHN. 175
good and overcoming the eA'il, by manifesting the beauty and power
of truth.
15. The Jews wondered, saying. How knoweth this man letters,
having never learned ? W^ell might they Avonder that he, not one of
the doctors of the laAv, yet enunciated Avisdom, Avhich even Ms
opponents felt to be marveUous, and far beyond the lifeless and
trifling specMations of the schools. Useful as human knoAA'ledge is,
there is a learning that goes beyond it all, and is as much superior
to it as the Avisdoni of angels is to the mteUigenoe of men, and as
Divine Avisdom is to human truth.
16. Our Lord himself teaches this. My doctrine is not mine, hut
his that sent me. His doctrine was not human but diAine in its
origin ; spirituaUy understood, his doctrine Avas not the doctrine of
truth alone, but of love and goodness ; not of the Sou only but of the
Father. This Avas the secret of his Avisdom, and of his influence and
power Avith the good.
17. As the Lord's doctrine origmated in his love, so it can only be
appreciated and even apprehended by love. If uny man will do his
will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of myself. He who does the wUl of the Lord, he it is that loves Mm
(xiv. 21). All (Uvme doctrine has good as its first and last end; and
cannot be knoAA'u without regard to it. Truth indeed is an mstrument
by Avhich infinite goodness in God takes hold of finite goodness m man.
True it is that goodness in man comes from God ; but something
of goodness from the Lord is insinuated into the mmd of every human
bemg, and the Lord's truth is designed to call it out and perfect it.
Although the Lord's doctrine is truth, stUl more is it good; it is truth
in its form, but it is good in its essence.
18, 19. As a proof that the Lord did not speak of Mmself, he teUs
us. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory : but he thut
seeketh the glory of Mm that sent him, the same is true, and no un
righteousness is in him. SpirituaUy understood, this teaches us that if
the Lord's doctrine were of truth alone, it would find its result in in
teUectual glory : it would teach men to exalt God on account of Ms
Avisdom rather than of his goodness, and woMd lead man to glory in
himseK on account of Ms own inteUigence. But truth does not seek
its own glory, but the glory of love and goodness. That which does
so is alone true, and no unrighteousness is hi it. For Avhat is right
eousness but the good which truth teaches, and to which it leads?
Men practically regard God's truth as seeking its own glory, when
they hate or persecute one another for the sake of what they call the

176 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VII.
truth ; for in doing so, they place truth above goodness, and employ
it, not to glorify goodness, but to debase it. Those also who maintain
that God condemns human beings for ignorance or error, however
righteous their lives may be, seek the glory of truth, and not of
the love which sends it. What would truth among men be if it
were not the messenger and the medium of goodness? Does not
moral and political and scientific truth find its glory in its useful
apphcation and results — that is, in the good to AA'hich it may be ap
plied? What is physiology without regard to health? "What
is civil law Avithout regard to order and security? Therefore
our Lord says to the JeAvs, Did. not Moses give you the law, and,
yet tione of you keepeth the law ? Why go ye about to kill me. The
Jews professed great veneration for the truth, and they sought its
glory ; but they sought not the glory of the goodness AA'hich sent it,
and which it enjoined. They gloried m the laAV, but none of them
obeyed the law. They therefore in reality sought to destroy the
law, which they indeed did in seekmg to kUl Jesus, who was the law
personified. 20. But so far were the Jews from acknowledging him as the laAv,
and thus the divine good in Avhich the law originated, that they said unto
jiim. Thou hast a devil. They thus accused Mm of being the opposite
of good, or the very evil in which falsity has its origin, and wMch
justifies the evU that produces it. They also demanded. Who goeth
about to kill thee ? thus denying the truth which he uttered, because
it was against themselves, and so perverting both his goodness and his
truth. Those who are evU never think or admit, even where (Uvme
truth accuses them, that they are, either m mtention or in act, the
destroyers of goodness or truth ; for a man caUs that good which he
loves, and that true which he believes.
21, Jesus answers, as he always does, without returning the raUhig
accusation of Ms enemies : I have done one work, and ye all marvel. He
aUudes to the cure (v. 8) of the man at the pool of Bethesda. TMs
work itself produced wonder ; but its performance on the Sabbath
excited wrath. This shows hoAv little effect miracles have on negative
mmds. Miracles are not mdeed intended to convince, but only to
impress the mmd with a certam sense of aAve and reverence, that
may infiuence the moral nature, and through it, the mteUectual. In
those, however, Avho are morally and thence intellectuaUy opposed, the
effect of nUracles is to harden and exasperate, rather than to soften
and coucUiate.
22, 23. Jesus, while he appeals to the miracle as causing them all to

Chap. VIL] ' ST. JOHN. 177
marvel, adduces a reason which ought to have had great- Aveight with
his Jewish audience, Avhy its being performed on the Sabbath-day
should have been to them no cause of offence. Moses gave unto you
circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but ofthe fathers;) and ye
on the sabbath-day circumcise a man. If a man on the sabhuth-day
receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken ; are
ye angry at me because I have made a man every whit whole on the
sahhath-day ? Circumcision was commanded by God to Abraham, and
was the- seal of the covenant he made with him (Gen. xvii. 10). It
signified the purification of the mind from impure loves, or fleshly
lusts, and represented introduction into the Church and newness of
lUo through that purification. Circumcision is said to be from the
fathers, Avho spiritually mean the ancient Church, in which, not the
rite but the doctrine of purification had its origin. A similar purifica
tion is represented by baptism, which is the sign of introduction
mto the Christian church, and signifies purification of the heart and
life, by which man becomes a new creature. The Lord's mhaculous
heaUngs had a simUar spiritual meaning, for removal of diseases signi
fied the removal of sins and introduction into a life of righteousness.
The Jews circumcised on the Sabbath-day Avithout breaking the law
of Moses ; but although they woMd not neglect a ceremonial on the
Sabbath, they were mad against the Lord for doing on that day a great
work of benevolence. Yet while these Avorks of mercy Avere suitable
to the holy day on Avhich they were performed, it was a part of their
holy and blessed significance, that they should be done on the day
Avhich was a type of the holy state which was to be introduced by the
Lord's coming. The Sabbath is said to have been instituted to
commemorate the Lord's rest after the six days' work in creation. But
the creation there means spiritual creation, which is the Lord's glorifi
cation and man's regeneration. And these being life and health, are
rest and peace. In fact, the union of the divine and the human m
the Lord is a perpetual and eternal Sabbath ; and salvation, Avhich is
the uMjn of the good and the true in man, is the rest AA'hich remaineth
for the people of God, of which heaven is the crowning condition.
24. After having reasoned them into sUence, Jesus concluded his
address to them on tMs subject by this exhortation, Judge not according
to the appearance, bnt judge righteous judgment. This was most neces
sary and wholesome advice to those external people, and is usefM to
all. It is another way of saying, Judge not by the letter but by the
spirit of the laAV. Slaves to the letter of the law, the Jews neglected
and Aiolated its sphit, and most of aU m condemning the beneficent
M

178 ST JOHN. [Cuap. vn.
works of Jesus, in that they were done on the Sabbath-day. The letter
contains little more than appearances of truth ; righteousness or justice,
even in judging, can only be found hi the spirit of the diAine Word.
But even this AviU not ensure our judging justly, unless our own spirit
is conformed to the sphit of the Word. To judge righteous judgment
Ave must ourselves be righteous. To be righteous Ave must have both
good and truth, or both charity and faith, and to judge righteously we
must judge from both. Judgment from truths alone is judgment from
appearances, but judgment from good and truth united is righteous
judgment. 25. The overaAving and convicting effect of the Lord's Avords drcAv
from them of Jerusalem the inquiry. Is not this he whom they seek
to kill ? Well might they express astonishment at the chcumstance
of men seeking to kill one from Avhose lips proceeded such words of
Avisdom. But Avhy should this be said by them of Jerusalem ? Be
cause Jerusalem represented the church, especially the doctrine of the
church ; and true doctrine recognises the Lord's good and truth, and the
unreasonableness of the deadly hatred of falsity and evU against them.
26. They remark further, Lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say
nothing against him. The Lord's speaking boltUy or freely, unmo
lested by those avIio were seeking for Mm to kill Mm, shows the
mysterious power which his presence and address sometimes exercised
over minds Avliich yet resisted conversion and even conviction. The
charm of his speech was like the fabled music of Orpheus,wMch for
the moment tamed the listening beasts, Avithout changing their savage
nature. Thus does the divine power and influence stUl prevent
many acts of evil, that would otherwise destroy order, and take
peace from the earth, and happiness from heaven. Do tlie rulers
know indeed that this is the very Christ ? This question appears
to have origmated half in doubt of Jesus bemg the Christ; yot
spiritually it signifles an inquiry excited in the mmd, as to
whether its rMing thoughts and affections have yet become subject
to the truths of love, which make the Lord the supreme Governor
of the soul. The CMist, or the anointed, is the divine truth in
Avhicli is divine love ; and to knoAv tMs mdeed is to kiioAv practicaUy
that the Lord is our Saviour.
27. Now comes the doubt of Avhich we have spoken : Howbeit we
know this man whence he is: hut when Christ cometh, no man knoweth
whence he is. This expresses the perplexity of the natural man re
specting the humanity of Jesus. How many continue to think of
Jesus as a mere mau, because, in their own opinion, they know AA-hence

Ch.\p, VIL] ST. JOHN. 179
he is. They think of Mm as the son of Mary, and some even as the
son of Joseph, and so, thinking they knoAv whence he is, they conclude
that he cannot be what the Christ truly implies — man in Avhom is.
God, the human in Avhicli is the divme, the light in Avhicli is the life
As to the JeAvs themselves, there may seem some inconsistency be
tween their statement that, Avhen Christ should come, no one would
know from whence, and the declaration of the chief priests and scribes
to Herod, that Christ Avould be born in BetMehem. But it seems that
there was a theory among the Jews that CMist, after he was born,
AvoMd disappear, as Moses did Avhen he fled from Egypt, and would
afterwards reappear among his people, no one knowing Avhence. Jesus,
indeed, after the sensation caused by his birth, had disappeared from
public notice, but when he came before the Avoiid again, at the end of
about thhty years, it Avas weU knoAvn whence he came.
28, 29. Then cried Jesus in the temple, as he taught, saying. Ye
both know me, and ye know whence I am : and I am not cume of my
self, but he that sent me is true, whom ye knoio not. In this the Lord
admits that they know both Avhence he was and Avho he was, but
intimates that they kncAv neither in the true sense. They kncAV he
had come out of Nazareth, but they kiicAv not that he had come doAvn
from heaven ; they knew Ms human mother, but they knew not his
divine Father, nor Ms descent from him. This is the knowledge of
CMist — of the human as commg forth from the divine, and therefore
as being itself divine ; for the human from the mother was but the
material covering of the humaMty from the Father, as the body of
man is a covering for his soM, which is the real man. The Lord
again teUs them that he came not of himself, but that he that is true,
whom they knew not, sent him. SpirituaUy, he that is true is the
true Good, as distinguished from every false good. It is mdeed the
same whether we say the true Good or the true God ; for as God is
Goodness itself, he who knows God as Goodness knows him as
the true God, or as the Truth itself AU essential opposition to the
truth respectmg God is opposition to the Goodness of God, which his
truth teaches. Hence our Lord so often declared that the reason men
did not come to him was because they were not drawn by the leather.
Men know not Christ, or the (Uvine Truth, because they know not the
Father or the divine Good. But the Lord kneAV him, because he Avas,
from him, and was sent by him. It is a great truth that " no one
knoAveth the Son but the Father, and no one knoweth the Father but
tbe Son, and he to whom the Son wiU reveal him." Love only knows
Avisdom, and wisdom only knows love ; the Divine only knows the

180 ST JOHN, [Chap, VII.
Hanian, the Human only knows the Divine. And so is it in us.
The Lord's love in us is that from which we know his wisdom ; his
wisdom in us is that by which Ave know his love. But stiU further,
according to the Lord's words, wisdom knows love because it is from
it, and is sent by it. The Lord had said before that he came not of
Mmself, but was sent. The ardency of divine love, as fire, sends out
divine wisdom, as Ught. Wisdom does not come of itself nor by it
self It is the Sent, and the revealer of the Sender. So iii us. God's love
in the heart, as fire, sends out his wisdom, as light, mto the under
standing. We may learn many tMngs about love and Avisdom, and
lay them up iu our memory, but living light comes oMy from Uving
love. And so also Ave may learn frcjin the case of the Jews, that if Ave
know not the true love we cannot and wUl not knoAV the true wisdom.
30, 31. The truth of whtxt we have hoav said is practically shoAvn
both negatively and affirmatively, by the result of the Lord's address.
Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on Mm, be
cause his hour was not yet come. The truth produces opposite effects
ou the evil and on the good. With the evU, m this instance, the
opposition was in will, but did not proceed to act. This was enthely
owing to that extraordinary moral influence Avhicli the divine Saviour
exercised over the minds even of his enemies. This influence Avas but
a restraining power. And we here see Avhat is but too true, that even
divine power cannot change the will, although it lays restraint upon
the actions of the Avicked, not only in this Avoiid but in the other
also. Even this is not absolute, for the avUI, bemg free, in some
histances breaks all bonds, and rushes into actual evil. The reason
they did not lay hands on Jesus Avas, that his hour Avas not yet come.
When the time did come, the Lord said to Ms enemies, " This is your
hour and the poAver of darkness." One cause of the present restraint
and of the subsequent licence, Avas the less and greater putting forth
of power by the kingdom of evU, and the different degrees of co-opera
tion with it by man. This also depended upon and corresponded to
the state of the Lord's humanity. His oavu temptations Avere as yet
-comparatively internal; but Avhen his hour Avas come, these tempta
tions came into their fullest condition, acting at once upon the inmost
and the outermost of the Lord's hereditary Ufe, resulting in the death
and putting off of all that was imperfect and fiiute, and ending hi the
temporary triumph, but in the eternal conquest, of the kingdom of
darkness. The hands signify the ultimate of poAver; and the opposmg
JeAvs did not " lay hands upon him," because the poAver of evU and
temptation had not yet developed itself into its last degree of activity

Chap. VIL] ST. JOHN, 181
and poAver. While the Lord's Avords thus provoked the Avrath of the
Avicked among the Jews, they produced belief among those Avho Avere
open to conviction. And many of the people believed on him, and
said. When Christ cometh, loill he do more miracles than these which
this man doeth ? They accepted these marveUous works as proof of
his Messiahship. They accepted the Lord's miracles as signs, which
the word for miracles here means. A miracle becomes a sign, when
it acts upon the imderstandiug through the avUI.
32. Tlie Pharisees heard tlud the people murmured such things con
cerning him ; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to,
take him. The murmurs that arise from the multitude of the natural
thoughts and feelings call the higher poAvers of the mind into action,.
and the uuderstandiiig and will unite in aiming to accomplish what the-
crow'd of principles in the natural mind dares not attempt to effect.
The Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take him. When evil
seeks to injure or destroy good, it does so by the instrumentality of
something that has the appearance of truth or of goodness. When the
evU attempt to invalidate the genuine truths of the Word, they do so-
by means of its apparent truths, as the devil attempted to draw Jesus-
under his power by means of Ms OAvn Word. The reasou of this is,.
that mere falsity, havmg not even a seeming affinity with truth, has
nothing by AvMch it can lay hold of it and bring it under its power.
In the other life, Avhen the evil infest the good, they can oMy do it by
means of those who are in simple good. The evU use the apparent
truths of the Word against its genuine truths, as the Jewish sanhedrim
employed its officers against Jesus to take him. And we shaU see in
the conduct of these officers a singularly exact representation of the
different character aud conduct of apparent truth, when it acts under
the infiuence of evil and under the influence of good. The officers
Avent out from the Pharisees Avith the purpose of taking Jesus, and
went out from the presence of Jesus Avithout either the power or the
disposition to take him.
33, 34. When these messengers arrived, they found Jesus teachmg,
and Avere constrained to listen. Then said Jesus unto them. Yet a
little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. The
Lord here speaks of Ms visible presence with the Jews, and the near
approach of his death and resurrection. But the Lord spoke for us as
AveU as for the Jews. He spoke in these same terms to his disciples,
with this momentous difference, that to them he Avas to come again
and abide Aivith them for ever. The Lord is with the evU and the
good durmg tMs life, for here his Word is present with aU, The good

182 ST, JOHN. [CH.IP. VIL
strive to understand and do its truth, and the evil labour to pervert it.
When this short life is gone, the evil avIio have lived Avithin the church
wUl stiU desire and seek the truth, but as they seek it only to pervert
it, it is in mercy hid from them, Avhile on the other hand it is mani
fested to the true disciple in greater fulness and perfection. Indeed,
the evil cannot then find the Lord as the truth ; for m the other life
truth dweUs only AAuth love, and cannot be found by any but by those
who seek it and are desirous to receive it in loA'e. It Avas in reference
to this that the Lord said, I go to him that sent me. In this Avorld
truth has a seeming existence separate from love ; but at death it goes
-lo him that sent it ; it returns into the bosom of love. And although,
in the other life, the evil still seek and knock, they cannot find.
Where the truth then is the evil cannot come, because they AAiU not
c ome to the love in Avliich it UavcUs. What in the particular sense
aoplies to individuals, in the general sense applies to dispensations.
I hat Avhich was addressed to the JcAvish people applies to the JeAvish
Church. The Lord Avas about to depart from that church ; it died
V hen he died ; his rising was mto a neAv church, Avhich Avas estabhshed
anong those Avho had received him as the Truth of Love.
35, 36. The Jcavs themselves expressed what Avas reaUy about to
take place in regard to the Lord. Then said the Jcavs among them
selves. Whither will he go, that we shall not find him ? will he go unto
the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles ? The Jews
meant by the dispersed the ten tribes Avhicli had been carried into
ca])tivity, and the children of Judah who had not returned from
Babylon. The church of the Lord Avas about to be transferred to the
GentUes, both Greeks and barbarians, while the children Avere to be
left. The dispersed among the Gentiles also Avere to be gathered hi,
according to the often repeated promise in the Old Testament. For
the dispersed among the Gentiles were spiritually the receivers of truth
and goodness preserved among the Gentiles, and Avhich they, uMike
the Jews, through whom they received them, had not perverted and
profaned. And so is it Avith individuals. The Gentile principle is
that in us which is receptive of the Lord, avIio is first accepted by
the truths and goods Avhich have been dispersed in it, and exist there
as remains. These are they of Avhom Isaiali speaks, when he says, " In
that day there shaU be a root of Jesse : and he shall set up an ensi^-'u
for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth "
(xi. 10, 12). The Joavs Avho suggested this meaning of our Lord's
Avords Avere not, indeed, aAvare that they Avere uttering a truth, but

Chap. VIL] ST, JOHN, 18.5
Providence bends the ideas and the words of the natural to a use which
they themselves intend not. The Jcavs Avere in gross darkness as to the
Lord's future operations ; and they understood nothing of the meaning
of his Avords, Avhich they continued to repeat — Whcd manner of saying
is this that he said. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where
I am, thither ye cannot come ? To the natural man these thhin-s are
utter darkness. What can he knoAV of the Lord's glorification, Avhen
he knows nothing of regeneration, -wMch is the only sign that can be
given of its truth ?
37. Ill the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying.
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. It has, not un
reasonably, been supposed that the form of the Lord's address had
reference to an act Avhich the priest performed on this, as on other
days of the feast — pouring upon the altar, from a golden vessel, Avater
drawn from the stream of Shiloah, Avhich floAved under the temple
mountain, when the prophetic Avords of Isaiah Avere sung : " With joy
shaU ye draAV Avater out of the Avells or fountains of salvation " (xii. 3).
To Mmself, as the F'ountain of liA'ing. Avater, he uoav invited aU Avho
desired to receive it. Deshe for truth is the soul's thirst. And ex
pressive and instructive the analogy is. Thirst is a natural era vin"
caused by a demand of the system for that Avhich it needs. It is
entirely different from artificial or morbid craving for drinks which
nature neither asks nor supplies. So is the real desire for truth ex
pressive of a want of the soul — a craving for Avhat it feels to be neces
sary for its spiritual and eternal life. To Jesus Ave must go for the
supply of this Avant. He only can give us to drink of the water of
life. His invitation to come to him is worthy of the last day of the
feast ; and its reception is the croAvning gift of his finished work of
redemption, Avhicli the last day of the feast expressed.
38. But how are Ave to come to him and receive and use this gift ?
We are to come to the Lord by faith. He thcd believeth on me, as the
Scriptures have said, out of his belly shall fi.ow rivers of living water.
Faith, in its scriptural sense, is a living confidence and trust m the
Lord, as the Author of salvation, that is, of regeneration. Belief is
that state in the disciple Avhich brings him, as the receiver, into con
nection with the Lord, as the giver of the graces of the Christian life ;
and wMch makes him not only their recipient, but the channel through
which they floAv to others. Truth, in the believer, is not only a foun
tain but a stream. In the unbeliever the truth is a standing pool,
Avhich may be stirred into artificial motion by vanity or contention, but
can never gush forth spontaneously iu a livmg stream from the heart.

184 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VIL
In the believer truth is living Avater, and it floAvs out UAing, as in
teUigence, which is a river, and through the thought, which is here
meant by the belly.
39. All this is shewn in the words that foUow. This he spake
of- the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive : for the
Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.
The impassable line between the real and formal believer is this : the
believer receives the Spirit of the Lord as Avell as his truth ; the non-
believer receives the truth but not the Spirit. Truth is learnt through
the senses from the Scriptures, either directly or indirectly, but the
Spirit comes through the soul, and, entering into the truths learnt from
the Scriptures, converts the truths of a dead into those of a living faith.
This is done by the Spirit of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus, spoken of in
the NcAv Testament, is not the Sphit of Jehovah mentioned in the
Old. The Spirit of Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, is the divine influence
that proceeds from the Lord's glorified Humanity, conveymg to be
lievers all the virtues of the Lord's Avork in the flesh, the righteousness
and merit of the Lord's redemption and salvation, acquhed by the sub
jugation of the powers of darkness and the glorification of his human
nature. To mark the difference of the spirit of regeneration from that of
preservation, it is said that the Holy Sphit Avas not yet (the word
" given" being an interpolation), because that Jesus Avas not yet glorified ;
teaching us that the Holy Spirit Avhich the believers in Jesus receive,
is the Spirit of his Divine Humanity, the Spirit of the second Adam,
which alone is able to quicken those Avho have become dead through
the first.
40, 41. The enunciation of this truth seems to have wrought its
promised effect. Many of the peopile, wlien they heard this saying, said.
Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said. This is the Chiist. The
prophet meant Avas the one Avho AA'as expected as the forerunner of
Christ, or Mm promised by Moses ; some, therefore, considered the
Lord as that messenger, others that he Avas the Messiah himself. A
prophet signifies the doctrme of truth, Chiist the truth itself The
Lord is the prophet to us when we receive him iu doctrine ; he is the
Christ whom Ave receive as the Truth, The Lord is doctrine itself as
AveU as truth itself ; for aU doctrine proceeds from him and treats of
him. He is doctrine in the rational mind, and truth in the spiritual
mind ; he is doctrine in us when his Word is understood, he is truth
iu us when it is perceived. Doctrine is therefore the forerunner of
truth ; it prepares the way for its acknowledgment. There AviU,
therefore, always be, even in the church, those who sphitually receive

Chap. VIL] ST JOHN. 185
the Lord as a Prophet, and those who receive Mm as the Christ ; for
every regenerating man receives him in the one character before he
receives him in the other. But there is a third class, Avho are in doubt
as to Avhether the Lord is either the Prophet or the Christ. As the
human mmd, especiaUy on the greatest of truths, is subject to doubts,
there are always doubters. Doubt precedes acknowledgment ; and Ave
may read the nature of our doubts in those, which some of the people,
Avho heard Jesus, entertained respecting him as the Messiah. To those
ivho said, This is tbe Christ, some said. Shall Christ come out of
Galilee ? Yet the doubt or objection in this case, as in the case of all
other doubts or objections against the truth, is grounded in error.
42-44. The people Avho objected to Jesus being the Christ, ob
jected because he came out of Galilee ; and they said, Hath not the
Scriptures said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of
the town of Bethlehem, wliere David was ? But the Lord did come of
the seed of David, according to the flesh, and was born in. Bethlehem.
The real and the seeming origin of Christ have for us a deep spiri
tual meaning, and convey a great spiritual lesson. Truth in man, like
the Incarnate Word m the world, has an apparent origin or beginning
different from its real one. Truth is reaUy born, not in the senses, but
in the soM, although it first makes its appearance in and to the senses ;
as the Lord was born m Bethlehem, but was first knoAvn as coming out
of GalUee. Religion has its first beginning in the inner man, not oidy
in the remams of good and truth Avhich are there stored up by the
Lord's mercy in early life, but in the first moving of the Spirit upon
these, Avhen regeneration commences in mature life. This is, indeed,
unknown to the regenerate themselves, because it does not reveal itself
to their consciousness. The beginning seems to be in the truths Ave
learn, the lessons and the Avarnings Ave hear. These are no doubt the
tirst religious impressions that come to our knowledge, and produce
sensible effects ; but if it were not for the inner life, that stirs the
affections of the heart, these outAvard agencies would have no effect
upon us. f Were it not for the iuAvard Christ, who is born in the
BetMehem within us, the outward Christ, who comes out of Galilee,
could neither move nor convince us. Hence there are tAvo kinds of
these doubters or objectors ; those who doubt before they believe, aud
those who doubt before they deny. Those Avith whom belief foUoAVS
doubt, are they Avho have the Saviour born in them ; those avIio doubt
and deny, are they who have not. We see this exemplified, or at least
represented, in that there was a division among the people because of
Mm. And the objectors carried their opposition so far, that some of

186 ST. JOHN. [CH.A.P. VIL
them would have taken him ; but no man, laid hands on him. How
many m the world, like these Jews, deny in theh hearts, but fear to
put forth their hands. They are also restrained, though less directly,
by the same power ; what men fear to do because of their reputation, or
some other similar motive, they fear to do because of the truth, lest
they suffer for it in the estimation of those who profess the truth ; the
truth, therefore, restrains them. And so much, even in this way, does
society gain by the power and infiuence of the truth.
45. We come noAV to another class. There are elements in human
ntxture, as there are human acquisitions, which are neither good nor
evil in themselves, but become good or evU in the using. They nevei
act a principal but only an instrumental part, and take their charactei
from the power which governs their action. Such are the appetites
and the senses, or Avhat may be called the sensual principle, as that
Avliich feels and thinks from sensation. These are the officers sent
out by the chief priests and Pharisees, Avhich are ready to do theh will
while under their immediate influence, but are turned from their pur
pose AAiien brought under an influence of an opposite kind. They had
been sent out to take Jesus ; but they uoav return Avithout him to those
Avho sent them. And on its being demanded of them. Why have ye
not brought him ? The officers answer. Never man spake like this
mun. In itself Avhat a testimony is this to the poAver which the words
of Jesus exercised over minds not entirely poisoned by the serpent
of an obdurate heart and perverse understanding ! True it is, m many
respects, that never man spake like this man ; never so Avisely, never
so lovingly. Hoav poAverful must his Avords have been, Avlieii eternal
love Avas theh origin, and eternal life their end. This Avas no doubt
the secret of the Lord's persuasive and overawing poAver. The
wisdom that floAvs from love is true eloquence. Other eloquence may
dazzle and inflame, this only can carry conviction and life to the
mind. 47, 48. When the officers made this remarkable declaration. Then
answered them the Pharisees, A re ye also deceived ? Strange perver
sion, that the truth itself should be considered to be falsehood, and be
lief in it an evidence of deception. But evU inverts order, putting
light for darkness, and darkness for Ught. Do not many seriously be
lieve that all religion is deception, and that nothing is real but the
world's honour aud Avealth, and nothing true but the science of acquir
ing greatness and riches ? Those men who, hke the Pharisees, make
religion a stepping-stone to these as their supreme good, are in theii
hearts as much enemies to the truth as avowed and shameless un-

Ch-vp, VIL] ST. JOHN. 187
believers. And have Ave not all something of the Pharisee Avithin us,
that prompts, if it does not produce, enmity to the eternal truth, and
contempt for the Aveakuess that yields to it ? What the Christian sees
to be the practice inthe AA'orld Avitliout, he sometimes feels as a tempta
tion in his OAvii heart within. Much as the Pharisees must have felt
the defection of their officers, there Avas one that they dreaded stUl
more, as betrayed b.y their inquiry. Have any of the riders, or of the
Pharisees, helieved on him ? While the rulers Avere steadfast, their
cause might be doubtful, but could not be hopeless. And so spiritu
ally Avitli ourselves, Avbile the ruling piinoipies reintiin firm, Ave do not
greath- fear the result of the failing of inferior elements, although this
is not so insignificant as Ave sometimes suppose. The Christian some
times thinks there is not much danger to be apprehended from a little
indulgence of the naturtxl mau beyond AA'hat conscience sanctions ; yet
this may be the letting in of Avater, that may increase till it ultimately
becomes a flood, that rises till it covers the tops of the highest moun
tains ; for in all men there is a natural proneness to evil.
49. The Pharisees seemed little disposed to yield to the influence
AA'hich prevailed, not only Avith their oavu officers, but Avith many of the
people. They despised the defection of numbers of the people, so long
as the rulers remained unbelieving. They declared that th i.< people (or
ndlier multitude), who knoweth not fhe law, ure cur.ied. The knoAv-
ledge of the laAv, Avith these speakers, Avas the professional knoAAiedge
Avhicli Avas cultivated by them as religious teachers. We are all
too lij^e the Pharisees, in placing much reliance on this theological
knoAvledge, and thhiking that a religious teacher must be a better
man, because he devotes much time and labour to the study of the
Scriptures. If a man is really spiritual and good, this Avill help to
exalt his spirituality and goodness ; but this professional knoAvledge is
entirely distinct from saving knoAvleelge. Professional knoAvledge may
lead to self exaltation, but saving knoAvledge ever produces self abase
ment. He Avho understands aU mysteries and all knowledge, and has
not charity, is nothing ; Avhile any one of tbe mtdtUude, AA'ho is distin
guished by nothing but poverty of spirit, is akin to the angels, and in
the way to become one. Lazarus, starving and full of sores at the
gate, Avas greater than the rich mau Avho inhabited the mansion, and
was clothed in purple, and fared sumptuously every day. Not he
who knoAvs the laAV, but he Avho does it, is blessed.
50, 51, Amidst this general condemnation one solitary voice was
raised in behalf of truth and vhtue, Nicodemus saith unto them, (he
that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) doth our law judge

188 ST, JOHN, [Chap. VII.
any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth ? As there
was a Judas among the Lord's friends, there was a Nicodemus among
his enemies ; a secret foe in the council of his followers, and a secret
friend in the council of his persecutors. This holds good m regard to
other times and to aU persons. The good are not all cletin, the Avicked
are not Avholly corrupt. Some secret evU lurks in every human
heart ; some fugitive good is preserved iu every human conscience.
The Lord has a Avitness in every land, in every religion, hi every sect,
and in every individual mind. " Except the Lord of hosts had left in
each of us a very small remnant, we shoMd have been as Sodom, and
Ave should have been like uuto Gomorrah." Nicodemus, though
secretly a disciple, does not directly or openly vindicate the character
and claims of Jesus, but only urges the employment of the proper man
ner of deciding on their merits. " Doth our ItiAv judge any man before
it hear him, and knoAv what he doeth ? " The laAvs of justice are uni
versal laAvs, being founded upon the great laAv of equity, that Ave should
do to others as Ave would that others should do to us. Every one can
recognise the rectitude of this laAv, and one must be utterly depraved
before he can entirely efface it from his conscience. Every one kiiOAVs
how to measure out justice to another, by what he insists upon as due
to himself There is ever, therefore, a monitor, like the good Nico
demus, to call the mind, even in its violent moods, not to decide by pas
sion, but by reason, and so make knowledge the basis, and laAv the rule,
of judgment. And this monitor tells us that Ave should hear before Ave
judge, and knoAV before we condemn.
52. How did the Jewish conclave receive this Avise admonition of
Nicodemus ? They did not dispute the propriety of the course sug
gested, but declared the case of Jesus as prejudged by the chcumstance
of his origin. They answered him. Art thou also of Galilee ? Search,
and look : for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. Their argument Avas
that, being a Galilean, Jesus could not be a prophet ; and not being
a prophet, his claim was not entitled to be heard. The assumed fact
was not indeed true. Jonah and Elijah Avere Galileans ; but, even
had it been true, it had nothing to do Avith the question. Such, how
ever, is human blindness and inconsistency. When Ave haA'e no
reasons, we assume facts, and make them the bases of our judgments.
"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" "No prophet arises
in Galilee ¦ " These are sectarian cries, by Avhich truth is denied, aiid
condemned without a hearing. We are all inclined to beheve that
nothmg can be either true m itself, or in favour of the ti'utu, wMch
does not originate with, or belong to, om-selves. Such was the ground

Chap. VIIL] ST, JOHN, 189
on which the Truth himself Avas rejected and condemned. But the
secret of their conduct is, that men hate the light, because it testifies
against them that their deeds are evU.
53. After the conclusion of the consultation, Every man went unto
his own house. They separated, after the testimony of the officers and
the counsel of Nicodemus, unmoved in favour of the holy Saviour. This
teaches us how important it is that the end by Avhich Ave are actuated
be a good one. W^e are Avhat our ends are. We think and judge and
ixct from them. Our ends are the roots from Avhich our thoughts and
affections, words and actions, spring. When our ends are evU all these
are evU ; Avheu our ends are good aU are good.

CHAPTER VIIL

The first eleven verses of this chapter, with the last verse of the
precedmg one, are considered b.y the most emment critics as form-
hig no part of this gospel, as it came from the hand of the evan
gehst. As this is a point of great importance, we have thought it
the proper course to state the grounds on Avhich this conclusion rests.
For these we are indebted to a friend, Avho is an authority in aU ques
tions of textual criticism.
The question as to the genuineness of this whole passage, when esti
mated by mere documentary evidence, is of such importance in the
criticism of the Ncav Testament, that it demands some notice here.
The Aveight of external evidence is decidedly unfavourable to its
genuineness; and these are briefly the main arguments on which
that decision rests. Fhst, this passage is omitted in the great ma
jority, both of the MSS. of the first-class, and of the most ancient
versions, aud is ignored by the chief ancient Greek Fathers, and even
by the Latin ones up to the time of St. Ambrose (a.d. 370). Secondly,
its phraseology is unlike that of John, and e.xhibits several Avords not
elsewhere occurring in his gospel (as, for instance, the Scribes, the
Mount of Olives, &c.) ; whereas it strongly resembles the style of the
Synoptical Gospels. Some MSS. even place it after Luke xxi. 38 ;
whUe others remove it to the end of John's gospel. Thirdly, the
MSS. wMch do contain this passage exhibit a greater diversity of
reading than is found m any other passage of the same length in the
entire New Testament. Fourthly, it seems to interrupt the coherence
of the text where it stands ; hence most MSS. that have tMs passage

190 ST, 5-OHN. [Chap. VIII,
also modify the last clause of the preceding chapter, to make an easy
transition. Fifthly, almost aU critics agree in rejecting its claims to
stand Avhere it does, as an integral part of John's Gospel. For aU
this, the passage may belong to the authentic Word, and be merely
misplaced. There may also be other intrinsic signs of genuineness
than those dreamt of by mere verbal critics.
WhUe we are bound to pay due regard to the Aveight of external evi
dence, we are not to overlook that true mternal evidence which comes
through a perception of the internal sense. Swedenborg seems to have
entertained no suspicion of the spuriousness of the passage. True, his
attention may never have been directed to the question of its genuine
ness. On the other hand, he has not overlooked the passage, and does
not appear to have perceived any want of the characteristics of inspira
tion, either in the narrative itself, or in the place it occupies. More
over, he has explained it, so far as to show that he regarded it as
having a regular spiritual sense, Avhich distinguishes inspired from un
inspired compositions. Believing the passage to be genuine, though
possibly misplaced, we avUI embody his views in our explanation,
1, 2. After the circumstances recorded in the last chapter, Jesus went
unto the mount of Olives; and early in the morning he came again into
the temple. The mount of Olives and the temple are the Lord's divine
love and his divine wisdom. His retiring into that holy mount means
his entering into the sanctuary of his oavu pure love ; and his coming
thence into the temple to teach, represented his love teachmg by "wis
dom. He came into the temple early in the morning. Jeremiah
(vU. 13) speaks of the Lord rising up early to teach his people. His
coming into the Avorld is called both evening and moming, because
then was the end of the old dispensation, and the beginnmg of the new.
The Lord's coming is called a morning without clouds ; and himself is
called the bright and morning star, as ushering in by his advent the day
of salvation. His humanity is indeed both the morning and the morn
ing star, for the glory of the indwelling divmity shone and stiU shines
in it, to give light and Ufe to the world. The Lord's coming early in
the morning into the temple, symbolized his coming in the daAvn of the
day of salvation to the temple of his body, to manifest his glory, un
fold the mysteries of his kingdom, and display the splendour of his
wisdom, of which the morning is also eminently significative. When
in the temple, all the people came unto Mm — aU who were in the love
of truth, which " people" in the favourable sense signifies. As on some
other occasions, Jesus sat down, and taught them, representing again
that he taught them truth from love ; sitting being expressive of a state
of repose, indicative of a state of love.

Chap. VIIL] ST, JOHN, 191
3, 4. While seated in the temple, the scribes and Pharisees brought
unto him a woman taken in adultery : and when they had set her in
the midst, they say unto him. Master, this woman was taken in adul
tery, in the very act. The principal lesson Ave are to draw from the
historical sense of this circumstance is the tenderness Avith which the
Lord deals Avith the guilty Avonian ; and the means Avliich her case
becomes in his hand of convicting her accusers. Without uuder-
A'aluing the moral instruction it contains, we will attend to the spiritual
meaning, Avhich is at the same time the most highly moral ; for spiri
tual is the soul of moral wisdom. In the spiritual sense, the Avoman's
sin represented the profaning of the principle of good in the church,
so frequently described by the same sin charged against the church, as
figured by the daughter of Jerusalem and Zion. Marriage is the union
of goodness and truth, the Avife being the type of the principle of
goodness and the husband of truth. In the true order and the spiri
tual sense, marriage constitutes the church and heaven ; and adultery
constitutes the world and hell. In the highest sense, a chaste Avife is
a type of the church, as the pure and faithful wife of the Lord, and an
unchaste wife is an emblem of the church corrupted by the love of the
world and of the flesh. In the loAver analogous sense, a chaste wife
represents the principle of goodness united to the principle of truth, or
the grace of love united to that of faith. But an unchaste wife, who
admits another man than her oavu husband, represents the principle
of goodness united to and corrupted by fakehood, and the grace of love
corrupted by union Avith falsehood and unbelief, or, Avhat is the same
thing, the union of a corrupt wUl with a corrupt understanding. The
AVoman taken in adultery represents the JeAvisli church, as devoted to
and corrupted by the Avorld ; and, individually applied, represents the
good of the principles of the church perverted by false doctrines.
In the internal historical sense, the woman represents the Gentile
church, and those who accused her represented the Jewish church. It
is not to be supposed that she Avas accused falsely ; for both Jews and
GentUes Avere included under sin. Yet the sins of the Gentiles,
though in some respects more outwardly glaring than those of the
JeAvs, Avere less heinous, because committed in comparative ignorance,
and not, as Avere those of the Jews, against light. On this principle
the Lord said to the self-righteous Jews, that the publicans Avent
into the kingdom of heaven before them. By possessing the Word,
which contains in fulness the knowledge of sin, the Jews Avere able
to discern the sins of the GentUes, and they indeed called them sinners,,
as compared with themselves, because of their being Avithout the laAv.

192 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VIII
The scribes and Pharisees bringing the woman to Jesus and accusing
her of adultery, is descriptive of their readiness to detect sin in others,
especiaUy the GentUes, and their disposition to punish it. It is indeed
remarkable that the evil are more keen in detecting, and more severe
in punishing, acts of wickedness than the righteous, except, of course,
AA'hen their interest or inclination blinds or softens them.
5-9. When they submitted the Avoman's case to Jesus, the scribes and
Pharisees said. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be
stoned. Jesus answered them not, but stooped down, and with his finger
wrote on the ground. When they continued asking him, he lifted himself
up, and said unto them. He that is without sin among you, let him first
cast a stone ut her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the
ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own eon-
science, loent out une by one, beginning at the eldest even unto the
last. In this Ave see the wisdom of Jesus displayed in defeating the
machinations of his enemies. But the circumstances themselves com
mand our attention. Every act Avhich Jesus did, every word he spoke,
is significant. His Avriting on the ground reminds us of the words of
Jeremiah: " They that depart from me shall be written m the earth "
(xvii. 13). The Lord's act, Avhich was a symbolical answer to the ac
cusation and appeal of the Jcavs, told them that they Avere Avritten iu
the earth. And Avhen an act or a speech is repeated, it is always, in
the Word, expressive of a double application — to the inteUectual and
moral nature, or the inner and outer man ; the repetition of the act in
this instance signifying, that the JeAvs Avere both malevolent and deceit
ful, both morally and intellectually debased, and thus A\'holly ofthe earth,
earthly. They did not accuse the Avonian from any hatred of the sm
she had committed, nor bring her to Jesus to have her case righteously
judged. It was not Avith the vieAv of the Lord's condemning the
woman, but of his condemning himself, that they brought her to him.
Instead of this, they were made to pronounce their oavu condemnation.
Little conscience as these hypocrites had, they had sufficient lUscern-
ment to drive them from the presence of hhn who so unexpectedly
and so completely discomfited them. No doubt the holy infiuence of
Jesus had a considerable share in the eff'ect Avhich his Avords produced
upon them. It Avas like that judgment of Avliich the evU are the sub
jects iu the other Avoiid. It is a law of that world, that no one shall
be cast mto hell, untU he is convicted in Ms own conscience, that he is
so great a sinner, as to be unworthy and unfit for a place in the king
dom of heaven. Conscience among the wicked acts but negatiA^ely ;
it conAucts them of evU, but does not prevent them from committing

Ch.4P, VIIL] ST JOHN. 193
it. With the good, conscience is a safeguard agamst sin, and a prompt
ing cause of goodness. »
10, 11, When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the
woman, he scad unto her. Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath
no man condemned thee ? She suid, A'^o man, Lord. And Jesus said
unto her. Neither do I condemn thee : go, ami sin no more. The Lord's
conduct on this occasion is not to be understood as affording any
countenance to the notion, that he acquits the guilty. He acted in
conformity Avith his oavu merciful declaration, that he came, not to con
demn the the Avorld, but to save the world, and iu eonformity with Ms
ansAver to the young man Avho Avished him to make his brother divide
the iulieritance Avith him, " Who made me a judge and a divider over
you?" But there is a stUl more comprehensive principle on avMcIi the
Lord's conduct is to be explained. This he stated, Avlieii he said, " I
judge no man : the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him
at the last day." Besides, the Lord himself never accuses any. And
where there are no accusers, there can bo no condemnation. The Lord
desires to condemn none, but to save and bless all. AVhere there are
none to condemn, it is the blessed prerogative of his divine mercy to
say, "Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no more." This the
Lord desires every one should do. He AA'ishes every sinner to forsake
sin. And if any commit sin, the Lord does not condemn, so as to close
against them the door of repentance and forgiveness, but, so long as they
are m this world, preserves them in the capacity of forsakhig sm and
learning righteousness. There is one other consideration on this sub
ject, wM(;li it is important should be attended to. It is a laAv of sacred
ethics, that blame is proportionate to knoAvledge. He that kncAv his
Lord's AvUl, and did it not, sliaU be beaten with many stripes ; but he
who knew not his Lord's wUl, and did things worthy of stripes, shall
be beaten with few. This does not arise from any arbitrary appoint
ment, but from the circumstance, that sin against light deeply corrupts
the soul, whUe sm without light leaves the sold comptaratively free
from confirmed evil. The evil of the natural AviU is not sin tUl it has
obtained the consent of the understanding. Now, if Ave consider the
woman as the type of the GentUe avUI among the Gentiles, either
AvitMu or out of the church, her having no accusers is expressive of
this state; that evil exists, indeed, in the will and comes into act, but
is without an accuser in the understanding. When this is the case,
evU has no moral quality ; for inclinations and acts derive their moral
quality from their being done with knowledge of the moral laAv. No
one oi a sound mind and of a sufficient age can love or commit evil
X

194 ST, JOHN. [Chap. VIIL
without some degree of blame, because none are utterly ignorant of the
distmction between good and evU. We oMy speak of GentUe mmds
being siMess or blameless comparatively. Very young children who
are entirely ignorant, are indeed entirely siMess ; and only so far as
adults are near theh inteUectual condition, are they near their siMess
state. Such m the days of our Lord were the GentUes in comparison
Avith the Jews ; and such are all Avho are m a GeutUe state, compared
AAith those Avho have been instructed in the nature of sm, and especiaUy
of those Avho think themselves righteous and despise others, and stUl
more of those Avho accuse them. " If ye were blmd, ye would have no
sin, but now ye say ye see, therefore your sm remaineth."
12. In accordance Avitli the vieAv A\-e have presented of the meanmg
of the Avonian, as representing those who sin tMough ignorance, the
Lord no sooner dismisses her, uncondemned but not unwarned, than
he addresses himself to the people, saying unto them, / am the light of
the world;- he thcd followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. The Light is the Truth. The Lord is the hght
of the Avorld, as the truth by wMch the Avorld is enhghtened aud
directed in the way of eternal life. He existed indeed m the begin
ning — from eternity — as the Light, the divine Avisdom ; but he is
especiaUy the light of the world, the divme Avisdom in its adaptation
to errmg and smful men, as God manifest in the flesh, that is, God
made man, and through his manhood brought near to men, m a Avay
that makes him a lamp unto theh feet, and a light unto their path. The
Lord, as thus manifested, is the light of the world. For the world
means not oMy the men of the world, but that part of the human
mind which is analogous to the Avoiid, its external or natural degree.
This was that part of man, for the Ulumination of wMch the Lord
assumed human nature. The Lord Avas Man from eternit}', the Arche
type of finite man, Avho was created in his image and likeness. And
during the first church he was the One mto AA'hose image man was
regenerated. It Avas man's fall, avMcIi eventually closed up the Mgher
degrees of his mind, through Avhich he had been regenerated, and left
open oMy the natural degree, which the Eternal Word coMd not
savingly affect, that rendered Incarnation a necessity ; since by no
other medium than the Lord's humaMty could man be reached, so as
to be enlightened by the divme liglit. Thus did the Lord become the
light of the Avorld. And thus the Saviour could say, " he that fol
io Aveth me shaU not Avalk m darkness." He who foUows the lin-ht,
which the Lord has shed on the path of Ufe by his teachmg and e.x-
ample, FoUoavs the Lord. But to follow the Lord is to follow him in

Chap. VIIL] ST. JOHN. 195
tbe regeneration, by doing as he has done, and being Avliat he i.=, so far
as the saved can be as the Saviour. Those Avho walk thus shaU not
Avalk in darkness — neither in the darkness of ignorance, of error, nor of
unbelief Those AA'ho foUoAv the Lord shall have the Light of life, light
in the intellect guiding the wiU to the attainment of love AvMch is life.
13. When they heard the Lord utter this saying, The Pharisees
suid unto him. Thou bearest record of thyself ; thy record is nut true.
The Jews, like aU external people, Avanted external evidence of the
truth ; they were not disposed to accept truth on its owu testimony ;
they could not admit that the record Avhich truth bears of itself is true.
14. The Lord, however, ansAvered, Though I bear record of myself,
yet my record is true. The ground of the truths of Ms testimony of
himseU, and of theh denial of it was tMs : for I know whence I come,
and whither I go ; bid 'ye cannot tell whence I come and whither 1 go.
Truth is the form and the revealer of goodness. Without relation to
goodness truth is notMng ; it is a ffjrm without an essence, a means
Avithout an end. Truth kuoAvs whence it is, and this is the cause of
its testimony being true. Those Avho knoAV truth, but do not receive
the good from AvMch it proceeds, and to which it points aud leads,
know not whence it is. Truth comes to us as the messenger of gooiUiess,
as the offspring of love ; and the purpose of its coming is tu lead us
Avith it to that love and goodness whence it came and whither it goes.
15, 16. One cause that the Jews kncAv not the Lord's record to be
true was that stated by Jesus : Ye judge after the flesh ; I judge no
man. Those who judge not spiritually, nor even rationally, can have
no true knoAvledge of the Lord, or of his word, or even of themselves.
They judge accordmg to the appearance. Yet such persons are the
readiest to judge, and the most confident in the soundness of theh
judgments. But judgment is here used in the sense of condemnation.
And those Avho judge according to the flesh condemn everything
relating to the spirit, and sometimes even deny the existence of the-
spirit itself The Lord "judges no man." This is a declaration that-
the Lord makes more than once. It does not mean that he absolutely
does not judge. He said that the Father had ccmniitted all judgment -
unto the Son. The Lord does not judge in the sense of condemning.
Man is judged to condemnation by the truth itself wMch he has re
ceived, but from Avhich he has separated goodness. Every one is;
judged either to heaven or to hell by that which is in him. Truthi
without good is that which condemns, and truth with good is that,
which justifies. This is easUy seen. Why are the evU condemned?'
Because they knoAV their duty tmd do it not. They have the truth,

196 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VIIL
but they have not the good Avhich it teaches. This is their condemna
tion. Why are the righteous justified ? Because they not oidy knoAv
theh duty, but do it. They have the truth and tbe good which it
teaches. Noav when the Lord says " I judge no man," he means that
he judges no one from truth alone ; therefore he condemns no one,
for he "came not into the Avorld to condemn the world, but that the
Avoiid through him might be saved." The truth condemns those who
knoAv it, and violate it ; " the word which I have spoken the same
.shall judge you in the last day." But when the Lord says. Yet if I
judge, my judgment is true; because I am not alone, but I and the
Father that sent me; he means that Avhen he does judge, it is not by
truth alone, but by truth in union AAith goodness, or by wisdom hi
union with love. For the Son is Truth or Wisdom, and the Father
is Goodness or Love.
17, 18. The Lord appeals for a confirmation and iUustration of the
rectitude of his judgments to the law Avhich the Pharisees recognised.
Jt is also written in your law, the testimony of two men is true. I am
¦one that bear ivitness of myself, and the Father that sent me heareth
witness of me. The two witnesses are the principles of goodness and
truth on the one hand, and of evU and falsity on the other. Tlie
Father and the Son are these tAvo witnesses hi the divine sense, the
" two men" are the same witness. The testimony of these Iavo wit
nesses is analogous to that of the Son, because they are types of the
same principles ; the Father and the Son being the principles of Good
and Truth in the Lord, and the two men the principles of goodness
and truth in man. The law itself, as it stands in the Mosaic code, has
reference to the testimony which proves guUt as Avell as mnocence ; for
as goodness and truth are both required to justify, evil and falsity are
both required to condemn. As neither good nor truth alone justifies,
so neither evil alone nor falsity alone condemns. One witness estab
lishes nothing : " at the mouth of two Avitnesses, or at the mouth of
three witnesses every matter slitill be established" (Deut. xix. 15).
We have said indeed that truth alone condemns. But he Avho has the
truth which condemns him, is himself an enemy to the truth ; and if
not openly, yet in his heart, he believes Avhat is opposite to the truth.
Truth condemns, not actively but passively, not because it acts against
the sinner, but because the sinner acts against it. If he Avould oMy
be loyal to the truth, the truth would make Mm free : Ms cUsloyalty
to the truth is the cause of Ms being the bondman of Satan. Evil
which hates truth loves falsity, aud is united to it, even Avhile an evil
mau makes profession of the truth. It is this union of the CAil and

Chap. VIIL] ST. JOHN, 197
the false which constitutes the infernal marriage, Avhich is hell, con
sidered as a state, as the union of the good and the true constitutes
the heavenly marriage, Avhich is the state of heaven.
19. When the Lord had appealed to the testimony of the Father as
uniting Avith his oavu, to show that his Avord was true, the Jews de
manded, IVliere is thy Fcdher ? The question is similar to the demand
of Philip, " Lord, show us the Father ? " And it might receive the
same answer, " Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou
not knoAvn me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.
Hoav sayest thou then shew us the Father ? Believest thou not that I
am in the Father, and the Father in me ? " The demand was made
by a believer, and therefore received an ansAver. This question Avas
asked by unbelievers, and therefore remained unanswered. He aa'Iio
knoAvs Avdiat is in man saw, no doubt, that the answer Avould have pro
duced no conviction, and only added to condemnation. We learn from
it, that not the formal demand, but the rooted inolmation, is that
Avhich secures or prevents an ansAver to our religious inquiries. We
learn further that the knoAvledge of the htimanity includes the knoAv-
ledge of the divmity, for the Lord says to his interrogators. If ye had
known me, you should have known my Father also. TMs shoAvs that
they who judge according to the flesh, know not the Lord even as to
bis humanity, and they who know not the origin and nature of his
humanity, cannot knoAV, and do not acknowledge, his divinity. They
are like the Jcavs to Avhom the Lord also said, "Ye neither knoAV me
nor my F'ather." This accusation may therefore be made as truly now
as it Avas then. And as the Lord's humanity is the very Divine
Truth, and his divinity is the very Divine Good, we learn that unless
Ave know the truth as the poAver and manifestation of goodness, Ave
are ignorant of both.
20. These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the
temple. The Avords he uttered came forth from the treasury of Ms
Avisdom, the temple being the symbol of his humamty. In relation to
us, the trea.sury is our human understanding, spiritual knoAvledge being
symbolized by the money AAdiich the coffers iu the temple contained.
NotAvithstanding the enmity of the Jcavs, no man luid hunds on him,
for his hour was not yet come. This AvonderfM chcumstance shows the
extraordinary influence which the Lord exercised over men. But there
is something more Avonderful stUl. It teaches us AAiiat enables the
evil spirituaUy to lay hands on the good. The evil can only lay hands
on the good, or, to vieAV the subject abstractly, evil can only lay hands
on good by means of some perversion of good ; and so also falsity

198 ST. JOHN. rCTTA,p,_ VIII.
can only lay hands on truth by means of some perversion of truth.
..Pure truth and good and mere falsity and evil do not touch ; there is a
;great gulf betAveen them. They require some intermediate to bring
them into any connection. Evil desires to come into contact with
.good, and falsity with truth, only to destroy them ; and therefore they
sardently desire to have truth and good that they may pervert them,
.this being the onl}' AA'ay to effect their destruction. This desire is ex
pressed .spiritually in the entreaty of the rich man in hell to Abraham
in heaven, that he Avould send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in
water, to cool his tongue and allay his torment. The evU, even in
Jiell, desire truth to falsify it ; and for this reason onlj' is it denied
them. It is because the evil desire truth to perA-ert it, that the Lord
did not comply Avith the request of tbe Pharisees, to tell them where
his Father Avas. It was because truth and good cannot be brought
under the power of falsity and evU without being first perverted, tmd
because this perversion of good and truth must take place AAith, or by
means of, those Avho know them, that the Jcavs could not take Jesus
till they got one of his OAvn disciples to betray him. TMs perversion
existed in, and was represented by Judas. It did not exist to such a
degree, as to enable the enemies of Jesus to take him, at the time he
spake these Avords m the treasury- ; his hour AA-as not yet come, there
fore no man laid hands on him.
21. Jesus again addresses himself to the people. There was some
interval betAveen the preceding and the present address, indicating a
distinction in the truths uttered, and a change of state in those ad-
. dressed. In the preceding part of his address, the Lord teUs the Jews
that they kncAV not Avhence he came or Avhither ¦ he Aveiit ; here he
speaks of his apiu'oaching departure. I go my way, and ye shall seek
me, and shull die in your sins: whither I gu, ye cannot come. The
Lord alludes to Ms death, Avhich was his going away from the Jewish
church, and from those who were of its character. The Lord of lihu-
self never leaves any church, or any sinner, hoAvever depraved. So
long as the Lord had anything of the " flesh " or the infirm humanity
derived from Mary, he Avas Avith the JeAvish church, but Avlien this Avas
put off, there Avas no longer any element of sympathy betAveen him and
that carnal dispensation, and all connection between them Avas severed.
But why then did the Lord say, " Ye shaU seek me ? " Did not this
indicate a desire on their part to find him Avhoui they had despised,
after they had lost him ? It certainly does. But Avhat Avas their ob
ject in seeking him ? The Lord cannot deny himself to any Avho seek
¦ him smcerely ; he cannot refuse life to any Avho desire and a.sk it. Of

Chap, VIIL] ST. JOHN. 199
the Jews be said they should seek him, and yet die in their sins. TMs
coMd only be because they sought Mm for an end different from that
for which he came and died. They sought a Messiah who would re
store again the temporal kingdom to Israel. If they sought the Lord,
it Avas only to kill him. Therefore it may trMy be said of the church,
which so sought the Messiah, and of those Avho so seek Christ, Ye
shaU die in your sins. The dispensation perished in its own iniquity,
the measure of Avhich it filled by crucifying the Lord. To have con
tmued to exist, the church must have not only acknoAvledged the Lord
as the ilessiah, but have followed him whither he was going, and con
fessed him as the glorified Saviour. " But Avhither I go, ye cannot
come," said the Lord. When, after he had died in the flesh, he arose
and ascended in a deified humanity, the Jewish church and people could
not come to Mm.
22. Then said the Jexos, Will he kill himself? becuuse he saith,
'Whither I go, ye cannot come. As suicide was considered by the Jews
a crime AA'hich sent the soul to perdition, it has been supposed that
these unprincipled men meant to insinuate, that Jesus meditated an act
which Avould send him to a place where no son of Abraham Avould fol
low him. This, or even a simpjle imputation of a probable intention
of self-murder, was inferring from the words of Jesus the very opposite
of theh true meaning. To kill himself AvoMd indeed have been to con
tradict all he had said and done, and destroy the whole work of human
redemption. The insinuation was therefore a diabolical perversion of
his love and truth, and was in reality a kUling m themselves of every
vestige of these saving principles.
23. WeU, therefore, might the Lord say, Ye are from beneath ; I
am jrom above: ye ure of this world, I um not of this world. Their
sentiments and his were diametrically opposite in their origin, and so
were those Avho uttered them. He and his words were divine and
heaveMy, they and theirs were iMernal and worldly.
24. I send therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins : for if
ye believe not that I am he, ye shcdl die in your sins. Belief in the
Lord is the means of righteousness, and thence of lUe, The Lord
being Righteousness itself and Life itself, he is the author of them to
men ; and uMess we come to Mm in faith, Ave cannot receive them.
That of which the Lord as our Saviour is the author is what is called
¦eternal life, not life as existence, for this every soul has, but life as
love and blessedness. Existence without these is death; and those
who die in their sins have only a living death. We must die to sin if
we would escape dying in sin.

200 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VIII.
25. When the Lord declared belief in hmi to be necessary to save
from death, it Avas natural they should ask him. Who art thou ? This
question does not express desire but contempt. The Lord is made to
answer. The same that I send unto you from the beginning. The true
sense of this passage is much debated. CloAves, after Augu.stine, gives,
"The Beginning, which thing I also said unto j'ou," making the Lord
tell the Jcavs that he was the Beginning or Origin of all things.
There are objections to both renderings. In the first, the case of
the ausAver is different from that of the question, instead of being, as
they should be, the same ; in both, the verb is in the past tense, " I
said," Avbereas in the original it is in the present, " I say." Olshausen
takes the word urche adA'erbially, and reads the passage thus. First, I
tell you, I have many things to suy und to judge of you : but he that sent
me is truo; and I specdc to the wurld those things which I have heard of
him. The many things Avhioh the Lord had to say aud to judge of
the Jews Avere the evils and falsities Avhich the divine truth Avas about
to lay open in the Jewish church ; for to say has relation to the ex
posing of evU, and to judge has relation to the exposing of falsity.
But the Lord's saying and judging Avere unerringly just, for " he that
sent me is true.'' If he that sent Jesus Avas true, Jesus himself must
have been true also ; therefore there coMd be no escape from his pro
nounced decision. SpirituaUy, there is a much more impressive lesson.
The F'ather Avho sent Jesus is ahvays sending him ; the divine Love is
always sending forth the divine Wisdom. Whatever wisdom or truth
says and judges, it says and judges from love. Therefore the Lord, as
an assurance that what he says is true, teUs us that he ahvays speaks
to the world those things Avhich he heard from the Father that sent him.
We cannot, of course, understand Avhat the Lord says about the Father
speaking and the Son hearing, in the simplest literal sense. The Lord,
as to his humanity, heard the spirit of the divinity Avithin him as in
ternal revelation — the divine flowing doAvn into the human, the divine
love in the Lord's interior Avill becoming divine truth in his interior
understanding, and thence coming forth in Avords of wisdom, and deeds
of beneficence.
27, When the Lord had said these things respecting him that sent
hhn. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. The
knowledge of the Father being the knoAvledge of the Lord's divmity
and of the divine love, as manifested in the person of the Lord and
displayed in his works of redemption and salvation, none can under
stand the language iu Avliich ho describes the Fatherly principle m him-
Kelf, but those in whom the divine humanity or the divine truth ob-

Chap. VIIL] ST. JOHN. 201
tains an elevation into the thought and affection of the inner man, and
who are treated of in the Avords that now follow.
28. Tlien said Jesus unto them. When ye have lifted 'up the Son of
man, then shall ye knoio that I am he, and thcd I do nothing of myself:
but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. LiteraUy, this
lifting up of the Son of Man is his crucifixion, and those who lifted
him up were those Avho crucified him. But the Lord's crucifixion Avas
also Ms glorifictxtion ; and this is the event of Avhich, in the spiritual
sense, the Lord speaks. It was to this the Lord referred Avhen he said,
"And I, if I be lifted up, Avill draw all men unto me." His divine
humanity is the centre of spiritual attraction, to which willing souls
are draAvn. In the individual application of the subject, the lifting
up of the Son of mau is the elevation of the Lord's holy truth into the
interior thoughts and affections. Only this lifting up of the Lord can
give us experimentally to know that he is t'ne Saviour, and that his
humanity does notMng of itself but from the indAvelling divinity, or
that Ms truth does nothing of itself, but acts entirely and constantly
from love. And it must act from love in us before Ave can knoAv its
saving poAver. Thus it is that truth is taught of love, and speaks the
language of love.
29. The divine and the human, love and truth, cannot be separated,
either in the Lord as he is iu himself, or in the Lord as he is in us.
He that sent me is with me : the Father hcdh not left me alone ; fur I
do always those things that please him. Plainly and strikingly does
this teach the oneness of the Father and the Son. They are indeed the
Sender and the Sent, yet they are not separate. To be sent is to proceed.
But to proceed, spiritually, is not to depart, or to advance through space ;
it is to proceed as thought proceeds from love, or speech from thought, or
as licrht proceeds from the sun. In all these cases the sender and the
sent are connected ; their separation would be extinction. " He that
sent me is with me ; the Father hath not left me alone." This is a
momentous truth, practically as Avell as doctrinally. The Father and
the Son cannot be separated in us any more than in the Godhead. If
Ave have not both we have neither. Love -without Avisdom is not love,
and Avisdom without love is not wisdom. It may seem as if Ave could
have wisdom Avithout love, or truth without goodness, but it is not so.
Knowledge is sometimes alone ; truth never. Hoav may we distingmish
between them ? Knowledge is the science of goodness, truth is the
form of goodness. Love is not in theory, but in practice ; not in truth,
but in the good of truth. The Lord said. The Father hath not left
me alone, " for I do always those things that please him." Truth is

.202 ST. JOHN. [Chap.. VIII,
i bnoAvn by this,— -that it always does those things that are in agree
ment with love. This is the reason it is not left alone. Practice
unites love and truth, or charity and faith.
30. As he spake these words, many believed on him. The truth
Avhich the Lord's words to the Jevs's involve comes uoav to be exempli
fied. His wisdom and love exercise a power over the minds of some.
They believe on him. But there are as many grounds of behef as
there are of soil on which the seeds of the sower fell. Belief, in its
first moments, may be fervid as well as intellectual, but its final state
depends on the quaUty of the ground on Avhich it falls. Practice is
the test by Avhich its sincerity is tried, and its endurance or dissipation
is determined. Let us see hoAv tMs operates here.
31. Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue
in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. In chap. ii. 23, we read
of some Avho believed in the Lord's name because they saw the miracles
he did, but to whom he did not commit Mmself because he knew
them. So in this case, the Lord evidently regards these as nominal
disciples, and therefore tells them how they may become disciples in
deed—by continuing in his word. Continuance in the Lord's word is
not possible without doing AA'hat Ms word teaches and requires — it im
plies perseverance in opposing evU and in domg good. Continuance or
perseverance iu faith and holiness is one of the most necessary con
ditions of success in religion, as in everything else. Numerous are the
exhortations, solemn are the warnings, given in the Scriptures on this
subject The fact of their abundance is proof of their necessity, arismg
from the tendency, which exists in all, to fall away, or to become luke
warm. 32. The Lord gives this encouraging promise to those who con
tinue : And ye .'slicdl know the truth, and the truth shull make you free.
The knowledge of the truth of which Jesus here speaks is practical
knowledge, that AvMch is acquired by continuing in his word. The
freedom which the truth conquers for us is, as the Lord's subsequent
teaching shoAvs, freedom from sin. TMs includes every other kind of
freedom — freedom from ignorance, from error, from doubt ; and the
stiU more precious freedom which succeeds it, freedom from the tliral-
dom of our appetites and passions, and from distrust in the providence
of God.
33. Yet some of those Avho h.id "belicA'cd" could not endure this
doctrine. They considered themselves already free, and would not
hear of a doctrine that imphed they were in bondage. They under
stood not the nature of the bondage and freedom of Avhich Jesus spake.

Ghap. VIIL] ST. JOHN. 203
They answered him. We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bond
age to any man : how sayest thou. Ye shall be made free ? These
Jews were at that very time in bondage to the Romans, and yet were
indignant at the idea of their being made free. In this they well
represented the natural man, who, whUe the slave of his passions,
boasts of his freedom, because he is uncontrolled by the restraints of
religion. The JeAvs grounded their claim of being free on theh being
the chUdren of Abraham. Had they been spirituaUy the children of
Abraham, they might have claimed the possession of spiritual freedom.
But to be sons of Abraham according to the flesh gave no true liberty.
We are all the chUtfren of God by creation, or according to the flesh,
but to be free, we must be his children by regeneration, by being
born from above.
34. Our Lord proceeds to explain the true nature of bondage and of free
dom. Wliosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. This is bondage,
and that only wMch is deserving of the name. It is the parent of
all other bondage. Sin flrst makes us slaves to avarice or ambition,
and then prompts us to reduce others to the bondage of subserAueucy
to ourselves. There is this difference betAveen spiritual and natural
bondage ; spiritual bondage is voluntary, natural bondage is sometimes
mvoluntary. Yet sin is the great slave master. Self-love, AvMch is
the master sin, is tbe great enemy of freedom, both of soul aud body.
But whatever be men's outward condition, whether it be that of the
oppressed or the oppressor, this condition is common to them all — "he
that committeth sin is the servant of sin." This is the bondage from
Avliich the truth of Christ wUl make us free.
35. The results of servitude aud freedom are, that the servant abideth
not in the house for ever: hut the Son abideth ever. The house is
heaven, Avhich is the Lord's dAvelling-place, and also the prmciple of
goodness, which is his habitation m the human mind. The servant of
sin does not enter there ; but he that is born again, and is a child of
God, abideth there for ever. Abstractly, a servant of sin is the falsity
of evU, and a son is the truth of good ; in the supreme sense the Son is
Divine Truth, and thus the Lord himself as the Truth. He it is
emmently who abideth in the house for ever. By the Lord's in
carnation and glorification that sublime declaration of the Psalmist
has received its verification and confirmation : " For ever, 0 Lord,
thy Word is settled in heaven." The divine Truth is there eternallj
fixed as m its oavu tabernacle, descending thence into the church on
earth and into the hearts of men.
36. And, it abides there, and descends thence, that it may make

204 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VIII.
angels and men truly free. If the Son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall he free indeed. Freedom consists in being led of God, servi
tude consists in being led of oneself The natural man's notion of free
dom is the very opposite of this. He supposes it to be freedom from all
restraint. There is no such state as this. We must either be led of
heaven or hell, be the servants of God or the servants of sin. Which
is the best guide ? The one leads us by virtue to happiness, the other
leads us by vice to misery. There is another lesson which the Lord
teaches us here. He no doubt drew bis imagery from the Old Testa
ment economy, with Avhioh his auditors Avere familiar. The Hebrew
servant Avas not always the property of bis master, but served Mm for
a term of years, after Avliich be Avas discharged. But the son who was
ahvays free, was the heir, and abode in the house.
37. The Lord reverts to what the Jcavs had said about being the
chUdren of Abraham.' I know that ye are Abraham's seed; hut ye
seek to kill me, because my word hath no pluce in you. They were
Abraham's seed only according to the flesh. SpirituaUy, they Avere
the seed of Abraham in possessing the Word : for Abraham was a
type of the Lord, and his seed are the truths of his Word. These the
-IcAvs possessed, though they perverted them, as they themselves Avere
the perverted children of their temporal father. As they perverted
the truths of the Word Avhioh they had received frora the Lord, they
desired to destroy the Word, and therefore the Lord, frora whom these
truths proceeded, and of whom they treat in their highest sense.
" Ye seek to kill me, because my Avord hath no place in you." True
is this still. The mind in Avhich the Lord's Word has no place, is at
enmity against Mm, and is ever seeking to kill him, or what is the
same, is ever seeking to destroy, in itself aud in others, every thing
good and true, which is seeking to kiU the Lord, Avho is Good itseU and
Truth itself
38. The tendency of opposites is to destroy each other. The truth
of good and the falsity of evil are such opposites. Their opposition
Avas exemplified in the case of the Lord and the Jews. I spieak that
which I have seen with my Father ; and ye do that which ye have
seen with your father. Truth is the offspring of goodness ; falsity of
evil. Truth speaks Avhat it sees — what it perceives from goodness, for
truth is the expression of goodness ; and falsity does what it sees from
evU, for falsity is the expression of evil. This was exemplified as AveU as
represented bj' the Lord and the Jcavs. He was the Truth of Good
ness, they Avcre forms of falsity from evU.
39. The JeAvs answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father.

Chap. VIIL] ST. JOHN. 205
Jesus saith unto them. If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the
works of Abraham. The Jcavs spoke of Abraham as the father of
theh race, Jesus spoke of him as the father of the faithful. They
Avere Abraham's chUdren according to the flesh, but were not accord
ing to the sphit. Abraham was a type of the Lord as to his love, and
the chUdren of Abraham are those who are regenerated or born (ff God.
But in the abstract sense, Abraham is the principle of love from the
Lord in the heart, and his children are the truths that proceed from
that love in the understanding. When there is love in the heart and
truth in the understanding, good works wiU folloAV : these are the
works of Abraham, because they are works of love, for love worketh by
truth. The Jews were not the children of the faithfM Abraham ; nor
are any others sphitually so who act Uke them.
40. WMle claimmg to be the cMldren of Abraham, the Lord said
Ye seek to kill me, a- man that hath told you the truth, lohich I
have heard of God : this did not Abraham. Good loves truth. Deshe
for truth aud readiness to receive it are the prevaiUng signs of the
existence of good in the heart. But where men seek to destroy
truth, they give unmistakable evidence of their want of goodness.
The Lord's teacMng was the truth of love, and all aa'Uo had any
simUar state in themselves — aU who were reaUy the children of
Abraham, must have heard him gladly, and have found a Avitness iu
themselves that his Avords were true. Abraham, as a principle in us,
is the good of early life, which is intended by Providence to dispose
and prepare the mind for the reception of the higher good of mature
Ufe. The simple truths of this good are intended to enable the mind
to apprehend the higher truths of the Christian life. When however
men have destroyed these states in themselves, they wUl ever seek to
destroy the higher one offered to them, as beings created for heaven.
This is seekmg to kUl Jesus. TMs do not the chUdren of Abraham.
41. Deeds incUcate their origin. Our motives are the parents of our
works. Ye do the deeds of your father. And what the Lord said to
his bitter enemies, he says stiU to all who are actuated by the same
diabolical motives. Our deeds are indeed our own, and they ever
proceed from the springs of action, that are seated deep in the ends of
our inner life. We ought, therefore, to examine ourselves, that Ave
may trace our deeds to the motive, secret and remote it may be, from
which they spring. To the Lord's declaration, that the Jcavs did the
deeds of their father, they answered, We be not born of fornication ;
we have one Father, even God. The Jews used this language figura
tively. By fornication they meant idolatry ; they asserted that they

206 ST. JOHN. [CHAP.,VnL
were not idolaters, but worshippers of Jehovah ; chUdren of God, not
of idols. Spiritually, fornication is the falsification of truth, and to
be born of fornication is to be confirmed in such falsification, and to
live and act from it. To have God for our Father is to be confirmed
iu pure divme truth, and to live and act from it. This is the opposite
to being born of spiritual fornication.
42. The Lord gives a test which will always enable us to determine
Avhether we are in the one state or the other, Jesus said unto them,
If Gud were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and
came from God; neither come I of myself , but he sent me. Those who
are born of God love Avhatever comesfrom GoJ. This is self-eA'ident. To
have God for our Father "is to have his love abiding in us ; and if Ave
have God's love in us, we cannot but love the Truth that proceeds
from Mm. The truth is that wMch make love manifest. The Lord
Avas the Divine Truth that manifested the Divine Love. In the Lord's
concluding Avords, " neither came I of myself, but he sent me," must
be some deep and instructive meanmg. If the Lord Avas trMy God,
even supposing there Avere another equal with him, this could not have
been literally the case. By the Lord's statement Ave are instructed,
that love iii the Deity Avas the moving cause of the Incarnation and oi
human redemption. The Word, the Eternal Truth, came not of itself,
it was sent by Eternal Love, to accomphsh the purposes of saving mercy.
And so it is still. Truth is still sent by love ; it conies neither of
itself nor by itself It comes not of itseU, it seeks not its owm ; it seeks
to lead men up into the heaven of unchangeable love. Truth, Ave have
had occasion to remark, is that which judges. Had the Lord come of
himself, or as truth alone, he AVoMd have come as a judge ; and if he had
come as a judge, his coming Avould have involved sinners, and thus the
human race, in universal condemnation. But the Lord came not to
judge the Avorld, but to save the world. He came, not solely to mani
fest himself m the majesty and power of truth, but in the benignity
and tenderness of love. " God so loved the Avorld, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him shoidd not perish,
but have everlasting life." And thus " in his love and m his pity he
redeemed " mankind. In his often repeated declaration, that he was
sent by the Father, that he came not to do his own avUI, but the
AvUl of him that sent him — that of himself he did and said nothing,
there is thus a profound significance, expressing the blessed assurance
that the great work of I'edemption, which the Lord came on the earth
to accomphsh, had its origin in infinite love, and that tMs love was the
moving cause in all the redeemmg operations of the Lord's eternal truth

Chap. VHI.] ST. JOHN. 207
43. The Lord asks. Why do ye not understand my speech ? and he
ansAvers, -Erew because ye cannot hear my word. To understand, iu
Scripture, does not mean to understand Avith the inteUeot only, but
to understand with the heart : that is, to receiA'e truth into the under
standing under the mfluence of love. We believe from the heart by
the understanding. This our Lord teaches Avhen he says to the Jews
that they did not understand Ms speech, because they could not
hear Ms Word. Hearing is a sense Avhich has more immeiUate connec
tion with the wiU, as seehig has with the understanding. WHien the
Scriptures speak of hearing, they mean perception from the avUI,
The reason, therefore, Avhy Ave do not understand is because we do
not hear. There is a difference also between speech and Avord, or
between the utterance of a thing and the thing uttered, AvMch is as the
difference between the form and the essence. We do not understand
the (Uvme speech, Avhich comes by au external way, because we do not
hear the divine Avord, Avhich comes by an mternal way. We do not
understand external truth because we do not love internal truth.
44. And what is the reason Ave do not? Because Ye are uf your
fcdher the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. Jesus had
aheady told them they did the deeds of their father; he noAv tells them
who their father is. The devU signifies the principle of evU, as Satan
signifies the prmciple of what is false. The devil and Satan are not
indeed abstractions. PersonaUy, they are the powers of darkness, con
sisting of innumerable evil spirits. And these act upon the human
miud ; but they act through the evils and falsities which a man loves
and believes ; therefore the evUs and falsities themselves are signified
by them. Evil m the heart is the devU ; and when the ruling love
is evU, the affections are lusts ; and these lusts are Avhat the chUdren
of the devU do. In aU evU there is the lust of destroying good. This
is spiritual murder. And of evil it may be said, " He was a murderer
from the begiuMng.'' A murderer is literally a manslayer, and as a
man signifies the principle of charity, the extinction of that heavenly
jirmciple is meant by the devil being a homicide. This, indeed, was
an act that was committed at the beginnmg or hi primeval times, bemg
described by Cam slaying Abel. In itself evil is murder, both sphi
tual and natural : this is its character, its inmost nature, its begmning,
which it is ever m the mtention, often in the effort, to make its end
ing. But evU effects its purposes by means of falsehood, Avhich it often
frames by the perversion of truth, and is therefore called the father of
hes. Its enmity against truth arises from the chcumstance that truth
exposes and condemns evil. " He abode not in the truth, because there

208 ST, JOHN, [Chap, VIIL
is no truth in him," This does not mean, even in the literal sense, that the
devil Avas once in the truth and feU from it ; but that he never had
the truth, but was ahA'ays its enemy. This is true of evil : it stood
not at any time in the truth, because there is no truth in it. Good
has truth in it, and evU has falsehood in it. When evU " speaketh a
lie, he speaketh his oavu ; for he is a har, and the father of it." How
true, yet fearful, a description of evil ! It is a murderer and a liar —
a destroyer of all that is good, a falsifier of all that is true, EvU is the
great antagonist of God himself; for God in his essence is Goodness,
to Avhoni evil is diametrkaUy opposed in its nature and in its operations.
What is called here " his own" is in the plural, and means his oavu tMngs
— that is, the loves of self and the world, which are the roots of evU
deeds and falsehoods, Avhich are spiritual murders and lies, or destruc
tions of charity and faith.
45. Such being the nature of evil, it foUows, as our Lord says. And
because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. That which in its nature
speaketh a lie cannot believe the truth. And for tMs reason it rejects
Jesus, because he is the truth itself
46. The great cause of men rejecting the truth is, that it convicts
them of sin. Our Lord challenged even his enemies to convince or
convict Mm of sin. Which of you convinceth me of sin ? And if I
say the truth, why do ye not believe me ? What an appeal was this to
those Avho were seeking his destruction, and watchhig for anything in
his Avords or conduct that might be construed mto a ground of accusa
tion ! He did not, as in the case of the adulterous woman, seek a tender
judgment, by appealing to their oavu consciousness of sin; but he placed
himself before them, in the plenitude of their malignity and false
hood, as his judges, to condemn him if they could. 0 immacidate Son
of man ! Inheritor of our frail, fallen nature ; yet so enthely siMess,
that even thine enemies were struck dumb when asked to convince thee
of sm ! So are evU men, or the evil that is in them, unable to trace
sill to Righteousness or falsehood to Truth. Can we trace darkness to
light, or cold to heat ? If, then, he who is good, without any mixture
of evil, "speaks the truth, why do ye not believe Mm?" The reason
is given iu Avliat noAV foUows.
47. He tlud is of God heareth God's words. The truth here
enunciated is evident and is most momentous. He Avho is influenced
by the Spirit of God listens to the truth of God. Spiritutd truth is un
like natural truth; science, or the knowledge of nature, may be as grate
ful, and therefore as perceptible, to an evil as to a good man. Sphitual
ta-uth is grateful only to one who is good, or has so much good as to

Chap. VIIL] ST, JOHN, 209
desire to have still more. Indeed, good loves truth ; evil hates it. He
that is of God heareth God's words. To others it must be said, as Jesus
said to the Jcavs, Ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
That AvMch makes us the people of God is goodness and love ; those
Avho are destitute of this have no sympathy Avith the truth ; they hear
it not because they love it not.
48. The truth, to such as are opposed to it, is only the more hated
the more it testifies against them that they are evil. Then answered,
the Jews, and suid unto him. Say we not well that thou art a Samari
tan, and hast a devil. Arch-heresy and wickedness are included in
this accusation ; and it spiritually implies the imputation of falsity
and evil to Truth itself, and Goodness itself. This is putting evil for
good and darkness for Ught. Although the Jews could not convince
the Lord of sin, they accuse Mm of being a Samaritan and of having
a devil. Aud they even justify themselves in doing so : " Say Ave
not AveU ? " Their conduct was inconsistent, but not unaccountable.
Some, Avhen they cannot condemn acts, impute motives. There are
,5ome rehgious and religious persons who impute even to God himself
motives and acts Avhich are uuAvorthy of his character ; but they do not
impute them to him as evil, but attribute them to him as good. But
hoAvever much men may, either by mistake or from mclination, impute
wrong motives or acts to the Lord or to his Word, none can convmce or
convict either of sm.
49. To the Jews who made these wicked charges against him, Jesus
ansAvered, I have nut a devil : bid I honour my Father, and ye do dis
honour me. Truth has but one answer to such a charge, the meek
answer which Jesus gave, whether he speaks now in his Word, or m
the conscience. But the truth not only repudiates the charge of pro-
ceedmg from evil, but it claims the merit of teaching and leading to
goodness. " I honour my Father." Truth honours goodness by domg
its Avill. TMs Jesus did. And men should honour him as the Truth,
by following his teaching and obeying his commands. The Lord
prayed that Ms Father and he and his disciples might aU be one, " thou
iu me and I in them." We must honour the Father in the Son.
When the Son is dishonoured the Father is dishonoured, for the Father
is in the Son. It is, therefore, a double dishonour to dishonour the Son.
We do not know the truth, U we do not see that it honours goodness.
For this it deserves our honour. The truth ever shows us that it pays
homage to goodness ; and it claims our homage for goodness' sake.
50. Our Lord therefore says, I seek not mine own glory. Truth
seeks not its own glory. Truth is not the end but the means ; it seeks
0

210 ST. JOHN. [Chap. VIIL
not its OAVU glory, by draAving men's attention to itself ; it points per
petually to that higher principle, in the bosom of which it dAvells, and
into which it seeks to bring every human soul. There is one that
seeketh and judgeth. The Father seeks that glory of the Son and judg
eth by him. To seek is predicated of love, and to judge of Avisdom.
Love seeks, Avisdom judges. His Divine glory is manifested in the
salvation of men, and his judgment in vindicating them from the
poAA'er of their enemies.
51. Although the Son does not seek his own glory, yet his 'Word
has life-giving poAver. Verily, verily, I say unto you. If a man keep
my sayings, he shall never see death. The Lord's sayings are his pre
cepts, and it is the keeping of these that saves from death. Spiritual
life is a state of heavenl}' love and faith ; the extinction of these is
death ; and such a state is condemnation. In one sense all are dead,
for all by nature are destitute of goodness aud truth, and inclined to
Avhat is evil and false ; but death, which brings condemnation, is a
state of confirmed evil and falsity. This is the death that the right
eous never see ; they never come into condemnation ; they are passed
from death uuto life.
52. The Jews did not understand this death or immunity from it.
They said. Now wc know that thou hast a, devil. Abraham is dead,
and the prophets ; and thou sayest. If a man keep my saying, he shall
never taste of death. Hoav natural Avas this remark by those who
understood the Lord's Avords naturally ! But although the result of
pure misapprehension in them, it is sphituaUy expressive of a particu
lar state in those whom they represented. These Jcaa's represent those
in AA'hom Abraham and the prophets are spirituaUy dead ; those in
Avhom the love of goodness and the perception of truth, signified by
Abraham and the prophets, are extinct. These truly must regard such
a teacher and such teaching as demoniacal and false.
53. The Jews further said. Art thou greater than our father Abra
ham, which is dead ? unci the prophets are dead : whom mcdiest thou
thyself? The Jews naturally thought it presumptuous and false to
promise immuMty from a fate which these holy men had not escaped.
To pass to the spiritual meaning : it is just those in Avliom Abraham
and the prophets are dead, that are disposed to reject the Lord and
his Word, and to think that any assertion they make of their own
greatness and importance is an assumption of superiority that belongs
not to them. Many think of the Word as a dead letter, and regard
Jesus as nothing more than a man, and his gospel as having no claim
to more than human excellence and authority.

CiAP. VIIL] ST. JOHN. 21 1
54. But the Lord does not claim human faith on his own Avord
only. He ansAvered the Jews, If I honour myself, my honour is no
thing : it is my Father that honoureth me; of ivhom ye say, that he is
your God. The JeAvs claimed , to be the worshippers of God, and yet
refused to believe him of whom God had testified that he was his Son.
What is here rendered honour is more properly glory ; and is used
here because honour, already spoken of (v, 49), has relation to good,
AvhUe glory, here mentioned, has relation to truth. In the former
case, Jesus speaks of honouring his Father, here he speaks of his
Father glorifying him. Wisdom honours love, and love glorifies
Avisdom. Without wisdom love would have no honour, Avithout love
Avisdom would have no glory. These essential attributes, even in the
Deity, receive, as it were, their qualities from each other. Love is love
by virtue of its union with Avisdom, and wisdom is wisdom bj- vhtue
of its union with love. Neither could be anything without the other.
This is equally true of love and Avisdom in the human as m the Divine
mind. We have no true love but that which is united with wisdom,
and no true wisdom but that Avhich is united Avith love. These are
each other's mutually and reciprocallj'. This mysterious but beautiful
relation of love and wisdom, and the reflection of their qualities back
upon each other — perhaps Ave should say their mutual interpenetration
¦ — is involved in the relationship of the Father and the Son, and is
revealed in what is taught in the Ncav Testament respecting them.
When the Lord here says, " If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing,"
he instructs us, that wisdom derives not its glory from itseK; and
Avhen he says further, " it is my Father that glurifieth me," he instructs;
us, that it is love that imparts to wisdom all the glory it possesses.
This is true of those principles in us ; and we can see it more
clearly in ourselves, because Ave can, as it were, separate in ourselves;
attributes Avhich are inseparable in God. If Avisdom or truth alone
in the mind glorify itself, its glory is nothing. If wisdom could
only speak of, or exalt, or glorify itself its glory would be nothing.
If Avisdom had no end or object higher than itself it would be worth
less. It is because the end of ivisdom is love, or because the end of
truth is goodness, that it is precious and glorious. It is the end Avhich
is in it from love that gives it all its lustre, that sheds around it true
glory. Great talents undirected by noble ends have no true glory.
If they only glorify themselves, their glory is nothing ; love aud good
ness alone can glorify them. Such is the order of life in God and
man. 55. While the Jews said that he by whom Jesus was glorified was

212 ST, JOHN. [Chap. VIIL
their God, the Lord said unto them. Yet ye have not known him ; but
I know him: und if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like
unto you : but I know Mm, and keep his sayings. The Jews knew the
name of God, but Avere ignorant of his true nature, and ascribed to him
a character opposite to the truth, making him altogether such a one as
themselves. They thus falsified or perverted the truths of the Word
respecting God, which made them spirituaUy liars, for to lie is to falsify
the truth. On the other hand, if Jesus, knowing God, had said he did
not know him, he would have been a liar like unto them. But in the
spiritual vieAV, Avhat the Lord says respecting himself is to be under
stood respecting Truth, or the Word, of which he was the hnpersoua-
tion. If the "Word, Avliich is the revelation of God, is so interpreted,
or its truths are so perverted, as to be made to destroy the true know
ledge of God, it is made to declare a lie, or to teach what is false in
stead of what is true. The Lord not only taught the truth respecting
God, but he did the truth. So is truth ever distinguished, by not oMy
knowing but doing the divine will.
56. Although those Avho claimed to be the chUdren of Abraham
refused Jesus as their Messiah, Yet the Lords teUs them. Your father
Abrcdiam rejoiced to see my day ; and he saio it, and was glad. It
may be useful to consider these words and those Avhich immediately
follow according to their literal sense. Thus regarded, they teach us
some important truths, relating to the Lord as the Saviour. They tell
us that the Lord had been the desire and the hope of ages, the holy
one to Avhom the faithful m all ages had looked forward as the
Redeemer of a captive race, the Saviour of a lost Avorld. Abraham is
called the father of the faithful ; and he n^ay justly be regarded as
standing here as the representative of those Avho " died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and Avere
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they Avere
strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Heb. xi. 13). This faith sus
tained them, and secured for them, when tbe Lord ctime, the benefits
of his redemption. The patriarchs Avere not, hoAvever, left to rest on
the promise of a coming Saviour : it Avas given them to see him Avith
their eyes, as he manifested himself to them in the person of an angel,
Avhom he filled AAith his spirit. "The angel of Ms presence" saved
them in their troubles ; and Avas a temporary human.ty, in and
through which he visited men, for the support of their faith, till the
fulness of times for his incarnation. Spiritually, Abraham represents
those who are in the love of truth, aud Avho already receive and per
ceive it in the inner man, and to whom this reception is a source of

CiiAP. VIU.] ST. JOHN. 213
joy. There are two expressions : " Abraham rejoiced to see my day ;
and he saw it, and Avas glad." This expresses reception both in the
A\ill and in the understanding. Gladness and rejoicing should here be
reversed, as the original requires, for gladness is expressive of an affec
tion of the Avill and joy of an affection of the understanding.
57. To the Lord's declaration the Jcavs answered. Thou art not yet
flfty years old: and hast thou seen Aliraham? A very natural ques
tion, as they understood the Avords of Jesus. Surprise has been
expressed why the Jews should have named fifty years. The words
of even his enemies are over-ruled or recorded for the sake of a higher
meaning than theh own. Fifty signifies a state in AvMch truths are filled
with goodness. This is a state which the Lord had not yet perfected
in himseK by glorification ; but has not commenced in those Avhom the
Jcavs represented. They represent those who possess the Word, and
knoAV the truths relatmg to the Lord, but who have no good in their
truths, and therefore have neither the faith nor the joy of Abraham,
and regard aU such faith and joy as fabulous.
58. Jesus answered them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before
Abraham was, I am. This great truth has unhappUy acquired a
controversial importance, from the pre-existence of Jesus being denied
by some professing Christians, as vvell as by the Jews, to whom these
Avords were addressed. Perhaps they Avere providentially drawn from
the Lord by the denial of Ms divinity and pre-existence, for the pur
pose of establishing the faithful in the belief of the eternity and
divinity of their Saviour. They will ever remain as a divhie enun
ciation of this great truth. They evince not only that the Lord
existed before Abraham, but that he existed as the I AM, the self-
existent and self-essent ; He who is, and Avho was, and who is to
come, the Almighty. But Avlien all controversy shall have for ever
ceased on this point, the declaration will stiU remain to teach a great
spiritual truth, in which all have an eternal interest. Jesus is before
Abraham, as weU as after him, in the experience of the individual
mind, as he was m the history of the Avorld, and m the progress of
the church. Jesus is the First and the Last. He is the inmost Ufe
in every soul, and the moving cause in every spiritual activity of the
mind, and he is the ultimate good in AA'hich life is embodied and
activity is fixed in use. He is both the Archetype and the Antitype
of all the principles and states of our spiritual life. Things tridy
human in us shadow and foreshadow things divine. The humaMty
of the Lord is the origin and the perfection of humanity, as it exists
finitely on earth and in heaven. Man was created in the .image of the

214 ST. JOHN, [Chap. IX,
perfect God, and God appeared m the likeness of sinful man. So is it
in the order of spiritual creation, which is regeneration. The rational
principle in us, that lies between the spirit and the flesh, is that which
the spiritual produces, and that by which it unfolds itself in the natural,
that the spiritual may be all in all — the i am in the Avhole man,
59. This is a truth, both doctrinally and practically considered,
which none but the spiritual can truly receive. In the natural man
it Avill ever find determined opposition. When the Jews heard the
Lord's declaration. Then took they up stcmes to cast at him. So will
the natural man ever take up false reasonings and false principles,
to cast them against the great truth, that the Son of man is the lu-
finite and Eternal clothed in Humanity ; for the natural man is in
herently disposed to assail this most essential principle of the church,
iu order to destroy it. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the
temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. There is
evidently something miraculous in this, as m some other instances of
the Lord's disappearing from the midst of his enemies. They repre^^
sent the providential removal or withdrawal of Ms divme truth from
the sight aud poAver of those Avho, bemg iii the opposite false persua
sion, desire and even attempt to do violence to it, aud so do the
most serious spiritual and eternal injury to themselves. In the in
ternal historical sense, they represent the Lord's departure from the
Jewish church, which is especially meant by his going out of the
temple, and going, as he is represented coming, as a thief in the Mght,
unperceived because unacknowledged. So does he pass away fr-om
the minds of those who believe and live contrary to Ms holy teacMng ;
and especiaUy is this the case Avhen the time of decision comes, when
the false principles come forth iii their malignity, and when the soul
is left Avithout the Uving presence of the blessed Saviour.

CHAPTER IX.
1. We have remarked in speaking of the last verse of the preceding
-chapter, that, in the mternal historical sense, the Lord's gomg out of
the temple through the multitude, represents his departure from the
• JcAvish church. His coming to the Gentiles, and his reception by them
VA'hen rejected by the Jews, are described representatively by what is now
related of his connection with the man, the history of Avhose case occu
pies the Avhole of this chapter. The narrative reads as if the Lord's

CiiAP. IX.] ST. JOHN. 215
coming upon this man had been accidental. Passing by he saw a blind
man, which had been blind from his birth. Passing by means presence
and influx. The Lord's seemg this man does not mean that he jier-
ceived for the first time the presence, in that place, of this distressed
object ; for he avIio kncAV aU things, knew Avho was there before he
came to hhn. When it is said that the Lord sees any one, the spiri
tual meaning is, that the person sees him, that is, that the influx of
the Lord's truth into the mind is so far received into the understand
ing as to make man, not the object but the subject of the Lord's truth.
The Lord sees men spiritually, especiaUy savingly, through his light
shiMng in them. The man whom the Lord then saAv had been blind
from his birth. This is exceedingly expressive Avhen understood in
reference to the Gentiles. They had never seen the truth, not having
possessed the Word, as au immediate revelation from God ; though they
possessed some knoAvledge of divine thmgs by tradition, and by indirect
information from Scripture through the Jcavs. Blindness in the
simplest sense is the symbol of ignorance, and this is especially meant
by blindness from birth. This Avas the blindness of the GentUes.
They Avere in the blindness of ignorance. This is their condition, so
often spoken of in the prophets ; and the Lord's communicating to
them, at Ms coming, the light of his truth, and opening their under-
standmgs to receive it, are described prophetically by his opening the
blind eyes, and giving light to them that sit in darkness and m the
shadow of death. This blessed work of mercy was not, indeed, con
fined to the people Avho received sight and light at his coming. It is
apphcable to all men hidividuaUy Avho are in similar states. There
fore, the present relation is descriptive of the state of all Avho are in
ignorance of the truth, and avIio are in the way of the Lord's provi
dence, and ready to accept his saving grace.
2. When, we may suppose, the Lord stopped to regard this object,
the disciples mquired of him. Who did sin, this man, or his parents,
thcd he was born blind ? We need not dwell on the well-knoAvn opinion
then prevalent among the Jbavs, that pre-existent souls were incar
cerated hi diseased bodies, as a punishment for sin. We may consider
the question as expressive of a doubt or difficulty that is often felt, and
sometimes expressed, about the GentUes and those iu Gentile states.
For what fault of theirs, of their parents and progenitors, are nations
and individuals bom under such circumstances, that they Uve in ignor
ance of the truth ? The Bible is knoAvu but to a comparatively snaall
portion of the inhabitants of the globe ; and many Avho live where it
is recognised as the teacher of truth, knoAV little of its teaching. These

216 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IX.
are solemn questions which have disturbed the minds of conscientious
"disciples,'' and may be reverently proposed to Mm whom they are
taught to acknoAvledge as Rabbi, as a teacher come from God. Let us,
as humble disciples, listen to the ansAver of him Avho spake as never
man spake.
3. Jesus answered. Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:
buf that the works of God should be made manifest in him. The Lord
did not teach that the man or his jiarents were sinless, or that disease
did not owe its origin to sin ; but that tbe man's particular affliction
AA'as not the effect of his oavu or his parents' particular sinfulness. The
Lord had taught the same thing regarding the Jcavs and the Gentiles.
Not for their worth Avere the Israelites chosen as the visible church ;
not for their uuAvorthiness were the Gentiles excluded, for the Israelites
Avere a stiff-necked people, and Avere no better than the nations around
them. The Lord's providence is regulated by the principle of final re
sults. Nations are born blind that the Avork of God may be made
manifest in them. The darkness in which the nations are aUowed to
remain is a wise permission for a wise and beneficent end. The light
of the gospel has been Avithheld, because they Avere not in a condition
to profit by it. But the time will come when the work of God sliaU
be made manifest in them ; and very probably those nations that have
so long sat in darkness, AAiU become more eminent subjects of the
Lord's saving operations than the visible church, through Avhose instru
mentality the knowledge of the Scriptures has been propagated through
all regions. To consider this subject individually, every one is now
born in ignorance, which is mental blindness. And every one remains
blind, however much he knoAvs even of spiritual tlimgs, tUl Jesus
opens the eyes of his understanding, that he maj- understand the Scrip
tures. It is not knowledge but faith that opens the spiritual under
standing, and gives us to see light in the Lord's light.
4. The works of God, AA'hich Avere to be made raanifest in restoring
the blind man to sight, must be wrought in tbe day. I must work the
works of Mm that sent me, while it is day ; the night cometh, when no
man ccm work. The general meaning of this, in reference to the Lord,
is no doubt similar to that of the Lord's exhortation to men : " Avork
AvMle it is day." Probationary work can only be done during the pro
bationary day. The Lord had a Avork to pcrf inn, not for his OAvn
salvation, but for that of his creatures. But the day of AvMch our
Lord spoke had a more extensive meaning. It had also reference to
that day Avhich was then rapidly passmg aAvay, the day of the
Jewish church, which, had it been alloAved to close in night before

Chap. IX.] ST, JOHN. 217
the Lord's advent, could never have been restored. It Avas neces
sary that while this day lasted the Lord should work the Avorks of him
that sont him ; nor had the Lord more than " finished " his divine
Avork before "there was darloiess over all the land;" and only Avith
his resurrection was there the daAvn of a new day of hope and light for
the human race.
5. When the Lord added. As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world, he could not mean that his departure, as to the
body, would leave the world in darkness ; for the light of his Spirit
and of his truth shone after his ascension Avith greater effulgence than
before it. The Lord is in the world A\-lien he is acknoAvledged iu it.
In the purely spiritual sense, his presence in the rational mind, by the
practice of his tmth, makes Mm its guide and instructor. And it is
this AA'hich prepares the way for the opening of the understanding, AA'hich
now conies to be treated of
6. When he had thus spioken, he sped on the ground, and made clay
ofthe spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.
Why did he, who so often performed such wonderful cures Avith a
Avord, now proceed so indirectly, and with such simple means, to re
store this man to sight ? Could there be any other reason than that
aU his acts Avere symbolized ? It is because this blindness Avas peculiar
that he used peculiar means. V- This man represents, we have said, those
Avho have never been instructed iii the truth, such as the GentUes.
They are, therefore, such as have never had their rational faculty culti
vated by instruction in the doctrines of the church ; and being in an
external or sensual state, they require the truth brought down to their
sensual apprehension. This bringingdoAvn of theLord's truth to thelevel
of their senses, or their lueroly sensual apprehension, is signified by the
Lord spittmg on the ground, the ground signifying the natural mind
itself, as to its faculty of reception ; and the union of the Lord's truth
Avitii natural or sensuous good there, is meant by his making clay of
the spittle. This was spread upon the eyes of the blind man, to re
present further, that simple truth united to simple good becomes in
strumental in opening the understanding, being applied during the
exercise of faith, by the Lord, as the author of faith.
7. A further means is, hoAvever, required, which is now, described.
The Lord said to Mm., Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by in
ter j/retat ion. Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came
seeing. The pool of Siloam Avas a type of the Word, and especially the
Word as to its literal sense ; and wasMng in its waters signifies purifi
cation by its truths. The name of the pool signifies Sent, a name ap-

218 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IX.
plied to the Lord himself Sent is expressive of truth as an emanation
from goodness, and therefore of truth in Avhich there is goodness, for
sender and sent are one, like a fountain aud its stream. The man was
therefore commanded to go, because going signifies progression m holi
ness, or living in obedience to the Lord's commands. Havmg gone
and Avashed, he came seeing. His eyes Avere opened to "see the light
of this world." What a blessed change. Not less blessed is that
change Avliich the willing and obedient experience when they have
come under the influence of the blessed Saviour, and have submitted
to his wonder-Avorking power, and foUoAved his divhie directions, gomg
aud AA'asliing in the pool of Siloam. Those Avho go blind come seemg.
8. In this and the following verses to the tAvelfth, Ave have an ac
count of the impression Avhicli this miracle had upon the man's neigh
bours. When the man is considered as representing the church
among the Gentiles, his neighbours denote those Avho are m a semi-
Gentile state, and who are connected with the GentUes on the one
hand, and Avitli the professing church on the other. Considered as
representing those Avho are in a state of ignorance of the truth, and
Avhose mmds are little elevated above the senses, his neighbours denote
those who are in natural good, for good is the neighbour of truth. We
read, hoAvever, of his neighbours and they who beforetime had seen him
that he was blind, by Avliich tAvo classes of persons are described, those
Avho regard the "blind" from the AviU and from the understanding.
They said. Is not this he that sat and begged? TMs condition, Uke
the man's blindness, is peculiarly expressive of the condition of the
GentUes, in relation to those avIio form the church. A beggar is one
who craves from others Avhat he is unable to provide for himself So
the Gentiles Avere represented by the beggar Avho Avas laid at the rich
man's gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from his table;
and the elevation of the Gentiles to the privileges of church member
ship is described by the Lord lifting up the beggar from the dungliUl to
set him among princes (1 Sam. ii. 8). Begging is expressive at once
of destitution and a desire to be relieved, the desire to receive of the
truths of the church being one of the qualities Avliich prepared the
Gentiles for being the recipients of the principles of the gospel dis
pensation, Avhen the Lord came. So is their state described by sitting
and begging : just as it is by sitting iu darkness, Avhich is ahother
way of expressing blindness, for though the cause is different, the effect
is the same. Silting relates to the state of the AviU, and begging to
the state of the understanding. But there is a change of which Ave
may not only be the witnesses but the subjects. "We are all born

CH.iP. IX.] ST, JOHN, 219
blmd. Ignorance is our hereditary state. This is our case both natu
rally and spiritually. Nor does spiiitual sight come by simple knoAv-
ledge, but by faith in what it teaches, especially by faith in him Avho
is its highest object. He it is Avho, while we are in our earthly and
sensual state, makes and applies that eye salve Avhich, though it does
not open our understanding, gives it the raeans and prepares it for
bemg opened. This the Lord does, especiaUy during early lUe, when
Ave are in a great measure passive. When Ave become active, and co
operate with him, by obeying his commands, and go to the Word as to
the fountain of living Avaters, and apply its truths for the purposes of
regMatmg our life, then do Ave acquire sight, that is, an enlightened
faith m the truths of his Word. This ucav state differs much from the
old. It opens in us a ucav sense, and reveals to us a neAv Avorld.
9. His neighbours and they Avho had seen the man blmd having
asked if this Avere not he that begged. Some suid. This is he : others
said, He is like Mm: but he said, I um he. The question here is
betAveen identity and likeness. Those Avho recognised in the man
restored to sight the same man they had knoAvn as a blind beggar,
are they Avho can trace the progress of reformation from its beginning,
and see the difference of the tAvo states and the identity of the subject
of them ; whUe those Avho could only recognise a likeness, are they
Avho cannot trace the progress of reformation, nor see through the tAvo
states the same groundAvork that divine mercy has operated upon. But
the man Mmself knew what others regarded with doubt, which was
rather the doubt of wonder than of scepticism. The knowledge of
Avhat we have been and what we are, impresses the miud with a
sense of the divine goodness and power, m havmg brought us out of
darkness into hght. " I who hoav see am he that Avas bhnd" is an
acknowledgment that comprehends in it many holy and happy senti
ments. 10. Therefore said they unto him. How were thine eyes opened ?
It is remarkable that we seldom see or hear of any strikmg pheno
menon Avithout desiring to know its cause ; even the common accidents
of life almost always suggest the inquiry, Hoav did it happen ? It is
because God has implanted in oiu- nature a rational faculty, which is
intended to lead us to trace everything through its proximate to its
first cause. The present inquiry is. How were thine eyes opened?
And this is capable of more than one answer. In his case there were
both the proximate and the first cause. The proximate cause was the
water of SUoam : the first cause Avas the Lord Jesus, So is there in
livery event of life, rational and spiritual. And the inquiry is always

220 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IX.
a necessary- and may be made a useful one, Hoav Avere thine eyes
opened ? wlience this great mercy ?
11. The man enumerated the secondary causes but did not forget
the first. A man named Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes,
and said unto me. Go to the p)ool of Siloam, and wash : and I went
and washed, and I received sight. He regarded Jesus only as a man ;
but tMs spiritually is not mconsistent with the acknoAvledgment of
Jesus as a Divine Man. And indeed this is a form of expression
admitted into the W"ord, because it can be filled Avith the true idea
respecting the Lord, that he is Man in the supreme sense and in a super-
eminent degree, he being the Divine Man, the Author and the Pattern of
all that makes us truly human. The other particMars haA'e already
been considered. It is only requisite to state, that AA'hen a thing is
repeated, as having been done as directed, it is expressive of effect aud
confirmation. 12. The man having answered the question, Who opened thme eyes?
is now asked, Wliere is he ? The question "Who ? is an inquiry respect
ing one's nature, and the question Wliere? is an mquhy respectmg
one's state.
13. They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
We here enter ou a ncAv phase of the history of this case, and one that
extends to nearly the end of the chapter. The Pharisees constituted
that extreme JcAvish element iu the church, Avhich Avas concentrated in
the person of Judas. It was the opposite of Jesus — the evil united
with cunnhig and deceit, Avhich is the opposite of the good united Avitli
wisdom and sincerity. The man whom Jesus had cured they brought
to the Pharisees. Do not our own faculties sometimes lead us into
the presence of the enemies of our Saviour and benefactor, to try us
,aud to tempt us, and see whether Ave aauU not prove faithless to him, by
denying him the merit that belongs to him, as the opener of our under-
¦standings to behold the light of truth ? We may read, therefin-e, in
tMs part of the narrative an account of AA'hat has been or avUI be om
OAVU experience.
14. And it was the sahhath-day when Jesus mude the clay, and
opened his eyes. This forms the ground of the accusation against
•Jesus. It is remarkable that our Lord, knowing the prejudice of the
¦ JeAvs in general and of the Pharisees in particular in favour of a ri"-id
'Ceremonial observance of the Sabbath, should yet perforin so many
lof his miracles on that day. Our Lord's conduct shews this remark
able fact, that he was tender to such of theh prejudices as leaned to
virtue's side, but showed no respect for those that Avere opposed to

CaAP. IX.] ST. JOHN. 221
righteousness and mercy. The conflict here, as in some otlier cases, is
between the essential and the formal iii religion. In a true church
these make one. In a corrupt church they often come into conflict-
The church is corrupt, and even consummated, Avlien it has a holy
external Avithout a corresponding internal, when it has the form of
godliness Avithout the poAver. When the church is in this state, its
holy external is opposed to true inAva'rd holiness ; for the holy outside
coA'ers aud conceals an internal fuU of all uncleanness. If anjrthing
of true essential holmess be introduced into the church when in this
state, it is sure to meet Avith deterrained opposition, just as the Lord's
works of holiness and mercy performed on the Sabbath, Avere met Avith
hatred by those Avho held that day in outward A'eneration. The very
sanctity in Avhich they held it became an obstruction to its being
sanctified hj works of divine raercy. This opposition and conflict
takes place in our own minds, Avhen divine mercy has introduced by re
generation a principle of vital holiness into the outward sanctity of
our formal religion. Then it is that the Pharisee in our heart rises
up against Jesus and his divine Avork, even when he has opened the
eyes of our understanding. This introduction of a new and vital
principle of holiness into the mind is the Lord's curing the blmd on
the Sabbath-day.
15. The Pharisaic principle in the heart creates doubts in the under
standing. Tlien agcdn the Pharisees also asked him how he had
received his sight. The mind is appealed to from the negative side,
to question the truth of the divine origin of its enlightenment. But
this temptation is met with the testimony of experience : He put clay
upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Are not the facts suffi
cient to set the question at rest ?
16. But if the fact catmot be denied, the character of him who per
formed the Avork may be called in question. Therefore said some of
the Phar'isccs, This man is nut of God, because he keepeth not the
sabbath-day. Others suid. How can a man thcd is a sinner do such
miracles ? And there was a division among them. Singularly clear
is the distinction betAveen the true and the formal member of the
church. The formahst entirely overlooks the beneficence of the
miracle, and condemns it as smful because performed on the Sabbath
day ; the true man justly regards the miracle itself as a convinomg
proof that he who performed it could not be a sinner. This division
among the Pharisees suggests a practical reflection. So far as we
regard the Lord and his works from the apparent truths of the Word,
we have an uuAvorthy view of both ; it is oMy as we regard them from

222 ST, JOHN, [Chap. IX.
its genuine truths that we see them in their true character. There is
often a division in our own minds even on the greatest questions,
AVhen by the grace of God there is a division in the councU of oui
OAVU mind, the false and the evil of the self-hood do not hold undis
puted Avay, but are counterbalanced and held in check by something
of the good and true.
17, 18. Divided among themselves respecting the character of Jesus,
the Pharisees appeal to the man himself. What sayest tliou of Mm,
that he hath opened thine eyes ? Possibly those on the negative side
only wished to see whether he would confess Jesus to be the Christ or
not, that they raight retain or excommunicate him. And this w£is per
haps the reason that the man did not express his belief in Jesus as the
Messiah, but only as a prophet. But the spiritual sense teaches another
lesson. The Pharisees are those Avhom unbelief has blinded, the man
represents those Avho through faith have come to see. The Lord is the
author and the supreme Object of faith. Being so, he is the Rock on
Avhich the faithful build, and on Avhich the unfaithful faU and are
broken. The treatment which Jesus received at the hands of men
Avas an exhibition of the treatment of his divine truth in all ages.
Unbelievers try to extinguish faith in others. They neither believe
in the Lord nor believe those who do. We see this manifested through
out ill the conduct of the unbelieving Jews. The present is an instance.
When the man declared that he regarded Jesus as a prophet, which
means the acknoAvledgment of his divine truth in doctrine, tbe Jcavs
not only denied the truth of his opinion, but denied the fact of his
having ever been blind. They did not believe concerning him, that hehcul
been blind, and had received his sight. Does not the natural man still
act in this way ? He does not believe that man is naturally blmd, and
remains so tiU the Lord opens his eyes, but that he is naturally as able
to understand spiritual as natural truth. The only reason, as he thinks,
that he does not understand or believe them, is that they are neither
deserving of study nor worthy of credit. It is but another phase of
this negative state that some regard truth, not as an object of intelli
gent belief but of blind faith, — a faith that looks backwards to tradi
tion and authority, not forward to reason and experience. The Jews
Avould not beheve that the man Avas born blind until they called his
parents. The parents of the blind are the man's hereditary nature,
Avhich m itself is in darkness respecting the things of heaven and
eternal life.
19. The Jews asked his parents, 7s this your son, who ye say was
born blind ? how then doth he now see ? This questioning of the

CiiAP. IX. 1 ST. JOHN. 223
parents by the Jcavs is interrogating nature to testify respecting spirit
— asking the natural man to explain how the spiritual man has become
spiritual. Let us hear the reply.
20, 21, His parents ansioered them, and said, We know that this
is our son, and that he was bom blind : but by whcd menus he now
seeth, we know not ; or who huth opened his eyes, we knoio not ; he is
of age, ask him ; he shall speak for himself. The natural man knoAvs
Ms own offspring, and can testify to its hereditary condition ; but the
means and poAver of its restoration he knows not. He knows, how
ever, that the rational, Avhen it has attained maturity and become in
dependent of the natural, can testify of itself
22, 23. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews:
for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess thut he
was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said
his parents. He is of age, ask him. Thus the natural principle is pre-
A'ented from uniting its testimany with that of the rational by evils that
obtrude themselves into the natural mind, and threaten to separate
acknowledged divine truth from the doctrine of the church — meant by
the Jcavs putting out of the synagogue all who confessed Jesus to be
the Christ.
24. These opposing evils in the natural raind apply themselves
directly to the rational, Avith a vicAv of falsifying its testimony, Then
again called they the man thcd was blind, and said unto him. Give God
the praise : we know that this man is a sinner. They did not ask him to
give praise or glory to God for his restoration to sight, for they did not
believe that he had been blind and been cured ; they administered this
form of words as a solemn mjunction to Mm to confess that Jesus Avas,
Avhat the)' believed or affected to belicA'c him to be, a sinner. They
kncAV " this man to be a sinner," and they Avanted to extort from the
beggar a confession that Avould confirm this point, Avliich they had
settled in theh own minds.
25. The man, in ansAver to this demand, placed his knowledge by
the side of their assertion, leaving them to draw the conclusion.
Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not : one thing I know, tlud
whereas I was blind, now I see. This Avas an excellent ansAver, and it
teaches an excellent lesson. The experimental kiioAvledge, that we
have been brought out of darkness into marvellous light, is an unan
swerable refutation of all objections against the poAver of Avorking the
miracle, or the reality of the miracle itself, of opening our eyes. Let
my soul know this, and all the cavUs of unbelievers are, so far as re
spects me practically, at an end ; and this argument is equally efficacious

224 ST. JOHN. [Cuap. IX.
against aU such suggestions arismg from unbelief m my own naturaUy
depraved -heart.
26. ButthereisstUlanother ground of outward or inward assault against
the truth. The previous objection related to the power,, there is another
wMch relates to the means. They demand again. What did he to thee ?
How opened he thine eyes ? TMs in itself was a natural inquirjC As
already remarked, our rational nature prompts us to inquire into the
causes of things. We are not content to know that a thing has been
done or has happened ; Ave wish to know how, and often ask the ques
tion at strangely unseasonable times, and when the hiformation can be
of no practical avaU. But the Jews, besides having a .siMster object m
vieAV, had asked the question before. They, like many other negative
men, return to the attack on the very ground they had taken before,
and lost. So, evil in our oavu hearts recurs again and agam to the same
point, in the hope of ultimate success.
27. The man ansAvered their question, I huve told you already,
und ye did not hear. The former answer produced no conviction.
Wherefore, would ye hear it again ? And as if they coMd oMy be
expected to ask an already ansAvered question, that they might recon
sider their decision, he asks them in return. Will ye also be his dis
ciples? "Ye did not hear.'' How can those hear who have not ears
to hear? This is the ground of just accusation. EvU has no ears for
truth ; and when it demands the explanation or reason again, the true
ansAver is. Wherefore ? Avhat is your purpose in asking ? Would you be
his disciple ? But the Jcavs here do not represent the opeMy wicked
and unbelievmg, for these have no concern about such questions ; they
represent those unrighteous and narroAv-minded professors, Avho see no
further than their creed, aud AA'ho would sacrifice truth and Aurtue at
the shrine of sectarianism. Chiist, as the truth, must conform to their
notions and ends, not they to Ms principles and practice,
28. Hoav ready are these blind worshippers of use and wont to faU
back upon established forms and authority, and to banter those who
adopt and adhere to anything that seems to encroach upon Avhat has
the mould of antiquity upon it. Then they recited him, and suid.
Thou art Ms disciple ; but we are Moses' disciples. We knoAV that
they could not be disciples of Moses and enemies of him of Avhom
Closes Avrote. But Ave may be disciples of the letter of the Word,
Avhioh is Moses, and yet be at enmity Avith its spirit, AvMch is CMist.
The letter killeth, uMess held in connection Avith the sphit, which giveth
life. " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth" (Rom. x. 4). How can any one be a lover of the Liav avIio

Chap. IX.] ST. JOHN. 225
hates and denies the righteous one, who is the end of the law, and re
viles those who believe in him ? To revile is to be in an affection op
posed to whatever does not favour oneself. Under this vilifying of the
truth hi its disciple lurks the love of self, Avhicli is the enemy of love
to Mm who is love itself
29. The Jews give, it is truo, a reason for their belief in Moses, aud
theh unbeUef in Jesus. We knoio that God spake unto Moses: as for
this man, we know not from whence he is. They knew that God spake
unto Moses, because many generations of their fathers had shown them
the example. It is easy to believe in Avhat others have believed, and
Avhat it has become the custom and au honour and advantage to be-
licA'c. The case greatly changes Avhen anything demands our faith
that has none of these recommendations. But after aU, it is a ques
tion hoAv far disbelievers in the new truth are believers in the old.
In this case, the ucav had always been contained in the old, and was
now brought forth from it. " For had ye believed Moses, ye would
have believed me " (John v. 46). Besides, the Jews might have
known that God had spoken to Jesus as Avell as to Moses. But the
real test is internal. God must speak with Moses and Avith CMist in
our OAVU hearts and minds. And in us he may speak Avith Moses and
not with Christ. For Moses, as natural truth, dweUs in the natural
mmd, and Christ, as spiritual truth, dAveUs in the sphitual mind.
And God, as the living and the true, can only speak to that which Ave
possess and acknowledge. And how many acknoAvledge natural truth
outAvardly, Avho know not whence spiritual truth is ?
30. Yet how inconsistent is this conduct. Herein is a marvellous
thing, that ye know not whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
If the tree is known by its fruit, Jesus may be known by his Avorks ;
and their origin may be known by their nature. The " whence" is
expressive of good as the origin of truth. That truth is derived from
good we know by the beneficent results of its operation. Among
these is the opening of the understanding. Christianity has opened
the eves of many nations ; it has brought them out of spiiitual and
natural ignorance into the knoAvledge of heaven and the world, for
religion and science go hand in hand. And yet some, like the Jews,
refuse to acknowledge whence it is.
31. The poor beggar seems to have knoAvn no better than that Jesus
Avas a holy man, who had done this mhacle by a divine power im
parted to him. And on this simple ground he reasons justly. We
know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a loorship/per of
God, and doeth Ms will, him he heareth. On the teaching of their
r

226 ST, JOHN. [Chap. IX.
OAvn laAv, Jesus Avas a righteous man. " If I regard iniquity m my
heart, the Lord avUI not hear me: but verUy God hath heard me"
(Ps. Ixvi. 18). The Avork of Jesus declared that this was his case.
God had heard hhn. But the Jcavs Avould not hear. How strikingly
does this shoAv that belief and unbelief have their root in the heart.
Here is a case Avhcre the understanding had aU the evidence required
to convince it, and yet the obdurate heart resisted faith in Jesus as
the SaA'iour, or ca'CU as a man of God.
32. The Avork which the Lord had Avrought Avas no ordmary one.
Since the world began was it not heurd that any man opened the eyes
of one that was born blind. Great as this tmth is hteraUy, it is stUl
more so sphituaUy. Man's being born mentaUy and sphitually blind
is a consequence of the faU. Had man remained m Ms mtegrity, he
Avould, like the inferior creatures, have been born mto aU knowledge
Avhich his nature and necessity required. Being now bom blind, no
one since the Avorld began has ever been spiritually delivered from Ms
blmdness. The Lord Jesus Avas the first, and the oMy one, Avho
ojjeiiod the eyes of any of the sons of Adam Avho Avere born bUnd ; as
he Avas the oMy one Avho raised the spiritually dead to life. This poor
man was typically the first-frMts of the Lord's Avork of restoring sight to
the sphitually blind. No poAver but Ms could do tMs great miracle.
33. The beggar continued. If this man were not of God, he could
do nothing. A greater truth than this speaker understood lies con
cealed hi his Avords. Unless Jesus had been cUvme as weU as human,
he could have done no work of restoration such as that symbolized by
the work he performed on the blind man. He coMd have done notMng
for the salvation of the human race, who sat m darkness and in the
shadow of death.
34. To the unanswerable argument of the poor man, the Pharisees
gave the reply of men who are unable to deny the truth, and yet are
determined not to believe it. Thou wast cdtogether born in sins : and
dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. The accusation may be
supposed to express the prevailing opinion, Avhich even the disciples
themselves as yet held, that the man's bhndness had been the resMt
of the special sins of his parents, or of Ms own. The Pharisees
judged of truth by the authority of the teacher. How much hi aU
ages has this same spirit prevaUed, and this same rMe been foUowed
by the timeserving iu the church. And Iioav much influence do the
same spirit and rule e.xcrt over aU of us. Passion, prejudice and self-
mterest, more or less, Avarp our judgment. And too often do Ave resist
the fact, the thought, the testimony, that comes against what Ave our-

Chap. IX,] ST. JOHN. 227
selves profess. The synagogue of our traditional faith and sectarian
charity is often found too iiarniw for containing a ncAV truth, even
Avhen it has sliOAVii its efficacy by opening the eyes of the blind.
35, Jesus heard thut tliey had eust him out; and when he had
found him, he said unto him. Dost thou believe on fhe Son of God?
W^hen we read of Jesus hearing Avhat by his omniscience he previously
kncAV, we are to understand it in reference to the Lord in us, mdicat-
ing a perception from him in the mind Avhicli is in connection with
Mm and subject to him. This perception is in the interior of the
mind, and comes tMough the will, into Avhich Avliat is heard more
dhectly enters. The Lord afterwards found the man he had cured,
AA'Mch implies that tMs perception found its object, and operated upon
it so as to produce in it a corresponding perception and reciprocal
action. The Lord asks of the man. Dost thou believe on the Son of
God ? Important question. The Lord is caUed the Son of man as
to the Word, the Son of God as to the Divine Humanity. To ac
knowledge Jesus as the Son of God is to aoknoAvleJge the Lord's hu
manity to be divine. Through belief m him as the Son of man, the
Lord produces behef m him as the Son of God. This higher belief
is the fruit of the regeneration Avliich all loAver means conspho to
begm and carry forward. Belief in the Son of God is the rock on
Avhich the Lord builds Ms church, agamst which no poAver can pre
vaU ; for a living faith in the Lord's glorified humanity implies that
humanity has been glorified in us.
36. To the Lord's question, "Dost thou believe in the Son of God?"
the man ansAvered Who is he. Lord, that I might believe on him ?
The man had not before seen, and therefore did not knoAA', his Bene
factor. He had heard Inm by the hearing of the ear, but uoav his
eyes saw Mm. In this Ave see the distinction between hearing and
sight exemplified. Hearing, we have remarked, is a sense that com
muMcates more dhectly with the wiU ; sight with the understanding.
Sight gives completeness and distinction to perception. A truth may
be felt to be true, but it needs also to be seen to be true, before it comes
under the fMl intuition or perception of the mind. So is it m respect
to the Lord as an object of perception. We must not only hear his
voice but see Ms shape. The beggar kneAV that a man caUed Jesus
had opened his eyes ; but he knew him not as the Son of God. That
higher truth he Avas now prepared to accept, and only requhed to be
directed to the Lord, to whom the title belonged. The prmciple of
faith aheady existed m his mind, and was ready to be fixed on its true
object, when declared and manUested to him.

228 ST. JOHN. [Chap. IX
37. Jesus said unto him, Tliou hast both seen him, and it is he
thut talketh with thee Hearing and sight, AvMch had succeeded each
other, now met together. He who had said " Go Avash in the pool of
Siloam," now stood before Mm as the Son of God— as Jehovah
manifested in human nature, claimmg belief as his Saviour.
38. How ready and earnest was his response. He suid. Lord, I
believe. And he worshipped Mm. But here we have to consider the
spiritual origin of this acknoAvledgment. It is the offspring of ex
perience. The soul knows its oavu plague and sorrow ; and deliverance
from its evils and its ignorance open the mind to the perception and
the acknoAvledgment of its Dehverer and Saviour. And this leads to
vorship. The reverence paid on this occasion may not have had much
of the character of spiritual worship : but it was enough to represent
it. Those Avho receive from the Lord that much greater blessing, the
opening the eyes of the spirit, and the abUity to see the light of
heavenly truth, are able and should be wUling to offer a correspond
ingly Mgher worship, the worship of love and faith, addressed to the
Lord as God over all, and also to render him the worship of a loving
heart iu an obedient life.
39. The lesson which the Lord deduced from the tAvo opposite
manifestations of human character, in the relation AvMch occupies the
greater part of this chapter, is solemn and instructive. For judgment
I am come into this world ; that they which see not might see, and that
they which see might be made blind. It is very evident that the Lord
here refers solely to inteUectual blindness and sight, shoAving that in
his divme thought the blind man was a representative of the intel
lectually blind, and that the persecuting Jcavs were representatives of
those who have mteUectual sight, but abuse that divine gift. The
Lord's coming had both the purpose and the effect of leading the
simple-minded into the truth, and Mding it from the wise and pru
dent. Those who see only from themselves see only for themselves ;
and the more they see, the more they pervert the truth to theh OAm
aggrandisement and exaltation. Those, on the other hand, avIio see
not, but desire to see, that they may do, are led of the Lord, and
foUow him. Judgment is one of the divine works connected with
CA'ery coming of the Lord. The separation of the evU and the good
in the spiritual world has its corresponding effects in the church, and in
the minds of the regenerate individuaUy, Discrmiination and separa
tion between evU and good, falsehood and truth, is the work of judg
ment. We shaU see the beneficent purpose of this in the Lord's con
cluding Avords to the Pharisees.

Chap. X.] ST. JOHN. 229
- 40. Some of the Pharisees which were with Mm heard these words,
and said unto Mm, Are we blind also ? These men understood the
nature of the blindness of which the Lord spake. But they seem to
have taken offence at the supposed hnplicatiou that they were amou"
the blind, who needed to have their eyes opened. The " blinti
Pharisee" supposes himself to be the most clear-sighted. Cumiinn-
ahvays imagines itself to be Avisdom ; falsehood claims to be truth.
41. Jesus suid unto them. If ye were blind, ye shoiild have no sin.
but noio ye say. We see; therefore your sin remaineth. Sin is the
transgression of the laAv. " Where no law is, there is no transgres
sion." What amounts to the same, where there is no knowledge of law
there is no transgression. And this is indeed the true state of the case
with regard to the divine law. That law, though eternal and immu
table, exists to us only when we know it. Ignorance, which exists in its
absolute state oMy in infancy, is siMess. Comparative ignorance gives
comparative immunity from blame. True and consolatory it is, that
"if ye were blind ye would have no sin." The blind know soraething
of theh want of sight, and do not boast of seemg. Those who say
they see are not less blind, but thehs is the guUty blindness of self-
conceit. They, seeing, see not, neither understand. They have science,
but no wisdom. They see the faults of others, but are bhnd to their
own. They have the knowledge that would enable them to see theh
own sins if they were wUling to see them. And having this know
ledge of sm, their sin remameth, for they make no effort to remove it
by repentance and self-denial.

CHAPTER X,

This is not a new discourse, but a continuation of that recorded in
the last chapter. The connection is evident in the literal sense. The
Lord contrasts himself, as the Good Shepherd, Avith the JeAvish teachers,
as evil shepherds. No more beautiful description of the true and the
false pastor coidd be given than that presented in the parable of the
good shepherd. Still more intimate the connection, still more beauti
ful the description, iu the mternal sense, where its truths are seen in
their universal application.
1, 2, Verily, verily, I say unto you. He thcd entereth not hy the door
into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief
and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shiqiherd of

230 ST. JOHN, [Chap. X,
iflie sheep. The church on earth and in heaven is the Lord's sheepfold.
"fhe aspect in which the church is presented is different under this
figure from what it is when called by other names, as for instance a
vineyard. A vineyard is the spiritual church, a sheepfold is the
celestial. But the point here to be considered is the door of the fold
through which the true shepherd enters, whose conduct is contrasted
Avith that of thieves and robbers, who climb up some other way. As
the Lord afterwards explains, a door is an evident symbol of that which
introduces into the church ; and lets in, either to truth, or to good, or
to the Lord. Hence a door signifies truth itself, good itseU, and the
Lord himself; for truth leads to good, and good leads to the Lord.
The doors and veUs of the tabernacle and temple represented these.
To enter the sheepfold by the Lord is to acknowledge, believe m, and
love him, as he frequently taught. He Avho entereth not by the door,
but climbs up another Avay, is one who attempts to climb up to heaven
by his own strength, and to gain admission in his oavu name. He
Avho takes from the Lord AA'hat is his, and claims it for himseU, is a
thief and a robber. He robs the Lord of his merit and righteousness,
of Ms redemjDtion and salvation. Robbing the I^ord, he robs Mmself,
and indeed he robs the Lord in himself, and thus robs himself of the
Lord, or of his love and truth. In his mind Jesus is but a name,
emptied of all significance and power. In a more abstract sense, false and
evil principles in the mind are the thief and the robber, for these steal
aAvay all good out of the heart and all truth out of the understanding.
2. Bnt he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
In the supreme sense the shepherd is the Lord. In the secondary sense
he is the faithful pastor. In the spiritual sense he is the faithful Chris
tian. Sheeji, in the abstract sense, are the graces of love and charity :
and every one is a spiritual shepherd who cherishes these gi'aces in his
heart and cultiA'ates them iu Ms life. He, in imitation of Ms Lord,
carries the lambs in his bosom, and gently leads those Avho are Avith
young, or give suck. The fold itself is in his own AA'arm heart, fenced
about with truths in a careful and enlightened understtinding. The
door by Avhich he enters is his rational faculty, and is the acknowledg
ment, in the understanding from the heart, that the Lord is his shepherd,
and that through hhn and in hmi there is life and safety.
3. To him the porter openeth. Tliis is not to be considered merely
as a figure mtroduced to complete or adorn the parable. In the Word
every tMng is significant and significative. Who then, and what, is
this porter ? The shepherd and the porter are distinguished from each
other as love and wisdom.. Wisdom is the guardian of what love

Chap. X.] ST. JOHN. 231
cherishes as a treasure. Wisdom or intelligence is the Avatchman on the
Avail, the porter at the gate. It gives warning of the approach of the
eneray or of the friend, and shuts the door to exclude the one, or opens
it to admit the other. It is the same if we say that charity is the
shepherd and faith the porter, for fiith keeps the door of the heart
where charity dAveUs. Therefore to Peter, who represented faith,
were given the keys of the kingdom; and they Avere given to him
Avhen he had acknowledged Jesus to be " the Son of the living God,"
(Matt. xvi. 16, John vi. 69). The porter opens the door to the shep
herd of the .sheep. Wisdom opens the way for the entrance of love.
No one reaches the primary principle of love but through the secondary
principle of wisdom ; no one comes to genuine charity but through
faith. There may be natural charity before there is fiiith, but faith is
necessary to make charity spiritual, which is the same as saying that
truth is requhed to make good genuine, and Avisdoni is needed to make
love pure and useful. Of the shepherd it is said. And the sheep hear
his voice. In speech, sound expresses affection, and articulation
thought. The sheep hearing the shepherd's voice means that those
who are in charity to their neighbour are receptive of the Lord's love.
They perceive his truths, indeed, and even with greater perfection than
others, but his love is that which primarily affects them. Their every
thought is affection thinking. The Lord addresses himself to their
thought as Avell as to their affection. He calleth his own sheep) by
name. A name is expressive of quality or character. The Lord
knows the quality of every one, and adapts his teaching, as he
adapts aU the operations of his providence, to their character and state.
His caUing them by name implies also that he gives them to know their
own character, and to knoAv him through this knoAvledge of tliemselves,
for when the Lord speaks, he speaks not oMy to us but in us. Thus
he knows his OAvn sheep by name ; and knoAving their quality, he leads
them out. To lead the sheep out raeans, to draAv forth the affections of
charity from the inner man to the performance of works of charity in
the outer life. It is thus that the Lord affects, instructs, and leads us.
4. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them..
The ancient custom of shepherds leading their flocks, not driving
them, affords a beautiful symbol of the conduct of the Divine, and of
every spiritual shepherd. The faithful pastor reproves as well as
instructs, but iu both he goes before Ms flock, leading them by Ms
example. The shepherd's going before his sheep implies also their
inteUigence to foUoAV him, as it is said they do ; and the reason is
given, that they know his voice. In the previous verse it is said that

232 ST. JOHN. [Chap. X
the shepherd " leads" his sheep ; here it is said that " he putteth
them forth." When man is under the instruction of truth he is being led
to good, and Avhen he has attained a state of good, he goes forth to the
discharge of all the duties which truth teaches and AvMch good delights
in performing.
5. And a sfrunger will they not follow, hut will flee from him ; for
they know not the voice of strangers. As the shepherd is one who
appeals to his flock by truths grounded iu good, the stranger is one
who appeals to thera by falsity grounded in evil. The sheep, there
fore, will not follow a stranger, but Avill flee from him, for they knoAV
not the voice of strangers.
6. This piaruble spake Jems unto them; but they understood not
what things they were which he sjxdie unto them. The Lord's parables
were framed for the use of those Avho Avere Avithout, and Avere com
monly understood, as they Avere intended to be understood, by those
to Avhom they Avere addressed. The Jcavs in general, and the Pharisees
in particular, Avho heard this parable, did not understand it to repre
sent that the faculty of perceiving truth Avas uoav so far destroyed in
the Jewish church, that it Avas incapable of sbeing the things that
belonged to its peace. The Jcavs saAV not the application of this
parable to themselves. Tliej' kncAV the subject described, but they
understood not the things as having reference to thera or theh
teachers, or to Jesus himself.
7. The Lord, therefore, proceeds, contrary to his usual custom, to
explain to them the meaning of the parable in its immediate reference
to himself and them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of
the sheep. Did they understand this explanation? The question for
us is. Do we understand it ? The Lord is the door as to his Divine
Humanity. This is the great medium, brought in to unite in one all
things that had been divided and rent asunder by evU introduced
through the fall. Thus had been broken off the communication
between heaven and the Avorld, and betAveen God and man. The
Lord's divine humanity became the door, through which God had
access to man and man to God ; and as a consequence, all the channels
of life and blessing were opened up through it anew. The Lord is
thus the door of the sheep. Through him there is admission into the
church, on earth and in heaveu, and security against evU.
8. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers. TMs state
ment has been felt hard to be understood. It cannot mean that all
pastors that preceded him Avere Avicked, nor is it considered to relate
to false Christs, none claiming that character having appeared before

Ch.\p. X.] ST. JOHN. 233
the Lord's advent. If the natural reference is obscure the spiritual
meaning is clear. AU Avho ever came before Jesus are all Avho ever
claimed pre-eminence for themselves, by teaching in their oavu spirit,
and Avith a view to their oavu glory ; Avho have thus preferred them
selves before hira. These were thieves and robbers, as arrogating to
themselves what belongs to the Lord. But, abstractly, those who
came before the Lord are the principles of evU aud falsity, which are
directly opposed to his goodness and truth, Avhich they even seek to
steal out of the human heart and understanding. But the sheep d.id
not hear them. The sheep are the affections of good and truth, or of
charity and faith in the heart. Something of these had been preserved
m the minds of men ; and some persons in Avhoin these affections had
been active, had, in aU ages, been a remnant saved from the general
corruption and decay. These did not hear the evil shepherds — they
did not suff'er themselves to be seduced by evil and ftilse prhiciples.
9. The Lord again declares, / um the door ; but he repeats this
tmth to teach the use aud benefit which we may derive from him as a
medium. By me, if uny man enter in, he shcdl he saved, und shcdl go
in and out, and flnd pasture. Salvation is through the Divine Humanity
of the Lord. And he is the Saviour, because, having glorified himself,
he is able to regenerate us. To enter through him is to pass through
aU states corresponding to those which he passed tMough. "We can
only be saved by being regenerated, and Ave can only be regenerated
as the Lord Avas glorified. Those Avho are saved shall go in and out. To
go iu is to enter into states of love and charity, and to go out is to
piroceed from those iuAA'ard states to outAvard acts of holiness and piety.
The pastures wMch such find are the good and truth Avhich recreate
and sustain the soul, and which are received by those Avho acknoAv
ledge the Lord.
10. A contrast is uoav draAvn betAveen the true and the false shep
herd. The thief cometh not, but for to steed, unci to kill, und to destroy :
I am come that they might have life, and thcd they might have it more
uhundantly. The evil of merit is specifically meant by the thief But
evU and falsity of every kind are of the same character; thej' come not,
but for to steal, and kUl, and destroy, that is, to alienate from the
mind aU good and truth, and to kill with evil and destroy with falsity.
But the Lord, with Ms good and truth, comes to the soul, to give it
life, that is, the life of love and faith, and to give it abundantly.
Specifically, love is life, and the life of love in the Avill reproduces
itself by truths iu the understanding, which is meant by life abounding.
11. The Lord had spoken of himself as the door, through which

234 ST. JOHN." [Chap, X.
the shepherd enters ; he now calls himself the shepherd, and not only
the shepherd, but the good shepherd. The character here assumed by
the Lord is one of the most prominent of those applied to Jehovah in
the Old Testament ; aud, hke many other titles and names, shows the
identity of Jehovah and Jesus. Spiritually, the Lord is our shepherd
as to his divine love, as he is the door as to his divine truth ; or, what
amounts to the sarae, he is the shepherd as to his divinity and the
door as to his humanity. His Divinity enters into our minds through
Ms humanity ; his love enters through his tmth. The good shepherd
giveth Ms life for the sheep. What is caUed life is more properly souk
In a more external sense, the soul which the Lord laid down was that
which in Gethsemane Avas exceedingly sorrowful even unto death, and
Avhich died upon the cross. Of the two terms which are translated
Ufe in the NeAv Testament, one signifies the life of the internal man
and the other the lUe of the external, or, what is the same, one the
life of love and the other the life of truth. The Lord was tempted,
and suffered, and died as to his external man, the life of which he laid
down ; the life of his internal man was above temptation and aU its
concomitants. The extern.al man is the seat of hereditary evil, and the
truth which is first therein is obscured by appearances and faUacies.
These the Lord laid down. But he laid doAvn his life (Ms soul) that
he might take it again. And when, by temptation, the last of AvMch
was the passion of the cross, the Lord put off aU hereditary evU and
aU appearances of truth, through which he had been tempted, he took
up the life of the external man and the life of truth in their perfection
and power. And this ncAv soul, which in the Lord is a quickenmg
spirit, he gives to men ; that as he lives they may Uve also.
12. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the
sheep ure not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth ;
and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. A hireUii"- is not
one who receives hire for his work, but who Avorks for the sake of hire,
and whose only interest m his labour is its profit. A hireliu" is one
Avhose own the sheep are not. Sphitually, he is one who has no
charity and faith of his own. He has them, but does not possess them.
One of the characteristics of the real shepherd is, that he defends the
sheep, even at the expense of his oavu life. The hireling does not lay
down bis life for the sheep. His love for charity and faith are not
strong enough to make him give up self and the Avoiid for their sake.
He flees at the very approach of danger. He offers no resistance to
evU. When " he seeth the Avolf coming, he leaveth the sheep, and
fleeth.'' The wolf is in our OAvn hearts ; but Avhen our fear of the

Chap, X.] ST, JOHN. 235
wolf is greater than our love of the sheep, or when, our fear of death is
stronger than the love of Ufe, the sheep wUl be given up to their
enemy, who will seize and scatter them. And here we see the com
plete dissipation of everything good and true in the mind, Avhen good
and truth are unresistingly yielded up to the power of evU and falsity ;
for evU seizes the sheep and falsehood scatters them, and thus they
unitedly destroy everytMiig heavenly, both in the will and in the
understanding. 13. Tlie hireling fleeth, because he is un hireling, and careth not for
the sheep. It is of the very nature of a hireling to flee from danger.
Those who place merit in righteousness have neither the motive nor the
power to stand agamst temptation. When the lusts of evU and falsity
lireak forth like the evening wolf, seeking to devour, and there is no
real affection for goodness, no real resistance will be offered.
14. The Lord again says of himself, / u,m the good shepherd, and
know my sheep, and am known of mine. This reciprocal knowledge of
the Lord and his people had been alluded to in the sheep knowhig the
shepherd's A'oice ; here their knowledge of him is more complete ; and
such reciprocation produces that completeness of conjunction Avhich is
expressed by the Lord being in Ms disciples and his disciples in him.
15. TMs conjunction betAveen the Lord and man is the effect aud
the pattern of union betAvcen the Lord and the F'ather. As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father : and I lay down my life for
the sheep. From the reciprocal knowledge of him and of his people,
the Lord turns to the reciprocal knoAvledge of himself and the Father.
The cases are more thau analogous, they are related to each other as
cause and effect. The Lord asserts his perfect equality Avith the Father,
Avhich he so often and emphatically teaches. In the present instance,
equal knoA\iedge of each other is the mode of expressing equal infinity,
for such knowledge must be infinite. And this infinite knoAvledge
implies infinite union and oneness. The union of the divine and the
human iu the person of the Lord is the origin and exemplar of union
betAveen him and his children. And this union of the divine and the
human Avas effected by the human laying doAvn its life for the sheep.
The Lord's love for the human race, his desire for theh salvation, Avas
that from Avhicli he fought against aU the poAvers of evU and darkness,
aud Avhicli made him lay doAvn the life of his hereditary or maternal
humanity. In this the good shepherd is distinguished from the hire
ling ; the hireling does not lay doAvn his life for the sheep.
16. But the Lord laid down his life for others besides those he calls
bis OAVU. And other sheep have I, which ure not of this fold: them

236 ST. JOHN, [Chap. X.
also must I bring, and they shcdl hear my voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd. In the proximate sense, the sheep Avhom
the Lord calls his own, are the good Avho belong to Ms visible church,
Avhere the Word is ; and the other sheep, which are not of this fold,
are those scattered throughout the world, who live in mutual charity
accordmg to the religious light they possess. These are also the
Lord's sheep, whom he shall bring into his sheepfold, and take under
his pastoral care. In a more interior sense, or higher application, the
two flocks are those who constitute the tAvo kingdoms of the Lord, the
celestial and the spiritual ; and the ingathering of the other sheep,
Avhich Avere not of the celestial fold, relates to the salvation of the
spiritual, which was especially effected by the coming of the Lord.
And not only does the Lord's declaration pcimt to a prospective result
of his Incarnation iu the natural Avorld, but to an immediate effect
Avhicli was to fioAv from it in the spiritual world. As this is a sub
ject of great interest and importance, as exhibiting the grandeur and
beneficence of the work of Redemption, in its mimediate though un
seen results in the eternal world, it may be weU to consider it with
some degree of minuteness.
The whole heaven is distinguished into three heavens, and into
tAvo kingdoms. This distinction did not exist actuaUy, though it
existed potentially, before the coming of the Lord. " At that time
the spiritual kingdom was not distinct from the celestial kmgdom, as
after the Lord's coming, but Avas one Avith the celestial, though only
its external." Heaven, as it then existed, necessarily resembled the
man of the most ancient church, from Avliich it had been essentiaUy
derived. In the men of that church the understanding was not dis
tinct from the will, as in the men of the succeedhig church, but was
one Avith the will, through its external. The celestial and spiiitual
kingdoms, Avhich are the will and the understanding of the grand
mau, Avere thus chcumstancedastheyhadbeenin the individual or least
man. When the Adamic or most ancient church was consummated, and
the Noetic or ancient church commenced, a mhaculous change was
effected in the condition of the human mind. The understandmg was
so far separated or discriminated from the will as to be able to act
distinctly, and no longer as the unresisting instrument and echo of
the voluntary faculty. No corresponding change Avas, hoAvever, then
efl'ected in the condition or form of heaven. The reasou of this was,
that no separate heaven or distinct kingdom could be formed of those
who belonged to the spiritual church, till after the Lord had come

Chap. X.] ST. JOHN. 237
into the world, and accomplished the works of redemption and glorifi
cation. The Lord, by Ms divine work in the flesh, redeemed angels as
Avell as men, and ordinated heaven as Avell as subjugated heU. As
part of the more perfect order which the Lord's divine works intro
duced into the siDiiitual Avorld, heaven was formed into tAvo distinct
kingdoms. The spiritual kingdom, avMcIi had formed the external of
the celestial kingdom, acquired a distinct individuality, and became
the nucleus of the ucav heaven and ncAv kingdom formed of those who
bad remained in the world of spirits frora the time of Noah (1 Pet.
Ui. 20), Avhom the Lord released after his resurrection, and raised into
heaven at his ascension. TMs Avas that great deliverance and beatifi
cation which had been foreshadowed in the emancipation of Israel
from Egyptian bondage, their journey through the desert, and their
entrance into Canaan. The Lord's divine work had the effect of
makmg the tAvo kingdoms at once more distinct and more united.
One part of that work consisted iu the Lord's effecting an absolutely
perfect distinction and union between the principles of goodness and
tmth m his OAvn person, by the glorification of his humanity. That
distinction and that union in him, are the origin and the archetype
of theh distinction and union in heaven and the church, and iu the
human mind. We therefore find in the Word predictions both of a
distinction and a union of these two kingdoms at the time of tbe first
advent. The separation of the spiritual kingdom from the celestial
is described representatively by the division of the kingdom of Israel
into two kingdoms, after the time of Solomon (1 Kings xii.), and pro
phetically by the cleaving of the mount of Olives in the midst when
the feet of the Messiah rested upon it (Zech. xiv. 4); and the union of
the two kingdoms is described in the numerous predictions of Judah
and Israel being again united into one glorious and enduring kingdom,
under the entUess reign of one king — the Messiah.
Those whom the Lord raised up and formed into the new spiritual
kingdom, were the other sheep the Lord had, which he Avas to bring,
which shoMd hear his voice, and shoMd couibme with his OAvn sheep
to form one fold, under one Shepherd.
17. The Lord now speaks of the means by which Ms flock Avere to
be gathered into one. Therefore doth my Futher love me, becuuse I
lay down my life, that I might take it again. We are not to look
at this from a natural point of view. A human father may love his
son more or less as he is more or less obedient. The Divme F'ather
does not love thus. He loves more or less as his love is more or less
received. The Father's love in the Son could be mcreased, but the

238 ST, JOHN. [Chap. X.
Father's love for the Son could not. And here we observe that the
Father loved the Son, not only because he laid down his lUe, but
because he laid it doAvn that he might take it agam. The divinity
entered into and filled the humanity so far as the hereditary hfe of the
humanity was laid down ; the divine love was united Avith the diAine
wisdom in the Lord's humanity, so far as the appearances of truth,
which adhered to it in the Lord's early life, Avere removed. This re
moval was effected by means of temptations, the last of which Avas the
passion of the cross. And Avhen the merely human life and Ught Avere
thus extinguished, and there Avas no longer any ground of temptation,
the Lord took Ms life again, the life of his humanity uoav glorified by
union with his essential divinity.
18. Of his life the Lord says, No man taketh it from me, hut I lay
it down of myself. Ihave power to lay it down, and 1 have pcnoer to
tcdi'e it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
His Avas a voluntary sacrifice, a free-wiU offering. He gave himself
for us. What love does this bespeak on his part ! What gratitude
does it demand on ours ! Do we sufficiently reflect on the great truth
Avliich the Lord declares m these divine Avords? Of the extent and
intensity of his sufferings we can form no adequate conception. He
had to contend for our redemption against the whole powers of dark
ness in the other world, and of evil m this. And yet, AA'hUe he suffered
as never man suffered, he possessed the power by Avhioh he coMd have
destroyed his enemies. These words express another truth, relating to
the Lord's redemption. He carried on the conflict of temptation by
his OAvn inherent power. He was, so to speak, left to carry on tMs
conMct alone. He Avas not indeed alone, for the Father was Avith him.
But Ms human consciousness Avas alone m his states of humiUation.
He then felt as a man and acted as a man. So distmct and separate
was his human consciousness, that, in the hour of his greatest trial, it
appeared to him as if the divinity were absent, and had forsaken him.
All this was necessary. Redemption, and the union of his divinity
and humaMty, could not have been accomplished, unless the Lord had
acted of himself from the depths of Ms human consciousness. The
Lord as a man was iu absolute freedom ; he was free to lay doAvn his
lUe ; and he laid it doAvn of himself Yet the divinity AA-as not ex
cluded from the Lord's human freedom. In laying down his life, he
obeyed a commandment he received from his .Father. The humanity
submitted to the Avill and complied with the requirements of the
divinity. Not that Jesus acted m obedience to a formtxl command,
but in agreement Avith a dictate of his indwelling divinity. In this as

Chap, X.] ST, JOHN. 239
in all other cases he, as the Divine Truth, complied Avith promptiun-s of
Ms OAvn Divine Love. The commandnient Avliich he obeyed Avas the laAv
of infinite and unchangeable love. This was the commandmeut he re
ceived of his Father.
19-21. W'hen the Lord had spoken these divine words, fuU of mercy
as of wisdom. There was a division therefore again among fhe Jews for
these sayings. And many of them said, Heliath a devil, and Is mad ;
why hear ye Mm? Others said. These are not the words of hhn that
hcdh a, devil : can a devil open the eyes ofthe blind ? The people had
been (Uvided on account of his doings in respect to the blind man ;
and noAV they are divided on account of his sayings in regard to him
self The Avords as Avell as the works of the Lord tend to division.
He carae not to send peace on earth, but a sAvord, the sword of the
Sphit, wMch divides betAveen the evil and the good, the faithful and
the uMaithful in the church, and betAveen evU and good, and truth and
error, m the individual mmd. For this kind of judgment the Lord
came into the Avorld. Only by the separation of opposites can the church
be restored and man be regenerated. TMs separation is the intro
duction of order. AVhen things opposite in character range themselves
on opposite sides, the principles of goodness and truth are brought into
a heaveMy form, as the means by Avhich the opposite principles of evil
and falsity are resisted and overcome. Those which range themselves
on the evU side are they which saj', " He hath a devU, and is mad ;
AA'hy hear ye Mm ? " They invert divine order, caUing goodness de
moniacal, and Avisdom madness. And this they do that they may close
the AviU against the adnussion of the Lord's love. Ou the other hand,
those which range themselves on the side of goodness, have a percep
tion that truth cannot proceed frora evil ; aud that evil cannot open
the understandmg to perceive the truth. Can a devil open the eyes of
the blind ? There is a wisdom Avhich comes from the tree of know
ledge, as Avell as a Avisdom that comes from the tree of life. But how
diff'erent are they m their character and results. One is sensual, the
other is sphitual. By their fruits ye shaU know them.
22. And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dediccdion, and it was
winter. TMs feast commemorated the purification and consecration of
the temple by costly sacrifices, after it had been profaned by Antiochus
Epiphanes. The date of that event prevents its being mentioned in
any of the canonical books of the Old Testament ; but the introduction
of it by msphed writers into the Noav, gives the present reference to
the commemorative feast a divme significance. The Lord himseU was
now about to complete the purification of the temple of his body by

240 ST. JOHN. [Chap. X,
the grand sacrifice of himself, and to consecrate it, glorified to the ser
vice of the indwelling Deity. Hence he was about also to purify and
sanctify to himself his mj'stical body the church ; aud those who noAV
acknoAvledged him were among its first-fruits. But while it was the
dedication Avitli him and with those who confessed and favoured him,
it was Avinter Avith the JeAvish church in general, and with those in par
ticular Avho decried and contemned him.
23. And Jesus loalked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Tliose who
look no deeper than the letter tell us that Jesus Avalked in the porch
of the temple to seek shelter from the inclemency of the weather. He
had a higher purpose, and his act has a deeper meaning. Tliis act had
symbolic reference to the temple of his body, personal and mystical.
The Lord stood, as it Avere, on the threshold of Ms glorification. He
Avalked in the porch of that magnificent temple in which the divinity
Avas to dAvell, and according to the pattern of which Ms temple, the
church, Avas to be sanctified, so that he might dwell with men, and be
their God, and they his people. Solomon Avas an eminent representa
tive of the Lord in his glory, that is, in his glorified humanity ; and
this porch, named from him, is expressive of the Lord's state, and the
state of those with whom he there conversed.
24, 25. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto Mm,
Hon- long dost thou make ns to doubt ? Jf thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Jesus ansioered them, I told you, and ye helieved not: the
iporks that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. It is
remarkable that those Avho are little disposed to believe ask for some
j.iositive assurance — some one thmg that shall convince thera of some
other aud entirely different thing. The teaching and works of Jesus
Avere much better testimony than his solemn asseveration. So he re
fuses to yield to their demand, and appeals to the Avorks that he did in
his Father's name, as bearing witness of him. He had indeed told
them before, and they believed not. Although this telling is not re
corded, they must have received the information. But if they kneAv
that he professed or claimed to be the Christ, Avliy should they ask for
a formal assurance that he Avas ? If they believed not his Avorks would
they have believed his Avord ? He did his works in the Father's name •
that is, in the spirit and poAver of the divine nature. His Avere the
AYorks of omnipotence and love, shoAving forth the attributes of the
divinity that dwelt Avithin him. What better evidence could men re
ceive that he Avas indeed the Messiah ?
26. Their unbelief had another cause. It did not arise from want
of evidence, but from Avaut of the disposition to admit it. Ye believe

Chap. X.] ST. JOHN. 241

ve

not ; because ye are not of my sheep, as 1 said unto you. We ha
seen that the Lord's sheep are they who are in love and charity. Not
any chosen number are meant, to whom is given the gift of faith, but
aU Avho have the avUI to believe. This avUI is not mdeed of man, but
of the Lord, and he gives it to aU who do not refuse it. Those who
receive it are his sheep. The love of truth, Avhich forms the founda
tion of faith, is from him. The cause of reception and rejection lies
deeply seated m man's free will, beyond another's ken, as beyond his
control. 27, 28. The Lord repeats his Avords, My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me : and then proceeds. And I give
them eterncd life ; and they shall never pjer'ish, neither shall uny mun
pluck them out of my hand. Here Ave see that men may be his sheep,
and yet require eternal life through the Lord's Avork of salvation.
Those who are in the good of charity are the Lord's sheep, but (rood
Avithout tmth is natural ; truth makes it spiritual, for truth directs it
to a Divine object and to eternal ends, and thus gives to it eternal life.
And Avhen the good in man is thus enriched and confirmed by truth,
it shaU never periah, neither shall any pluck it out of the Lord's hand.
Those whose charity is united to faith, or whose good is united to
truth, are safe ?ji the Lord's divine hand, AvMch is his omnipotence.
And that which is specifically meant is the omnipotence of his
divine humanity, or of his divine tmth. Those Avho are sincere in their
charity, hoAvever simple and unenlightened they may be, are received
into heaven, as the Lord's sheepfold, wlien they enter the eternal
Avorld, They cannot, mdeed, pass into heaveu as angels, untU their
charity has been united to faith ; but as all avIio are in good eagerly
receive truth m the other life, they only remain in the middle state
till they have entered into the marriage of charity and faith, when they
enter, as a natural result, into heaven,
29. And not only are they in and under the protection of his divine
Truth, but also of his divinity or Love. My Father, which gave them
me, is greater than all ; and no one is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. In the " all " the Lord mcludes himself, for he had
said, " The Father is greater than I." How greater, if both are divine?
Divine is greater than human, love is greater than wisdom, good is
greater thau truth, because one is the essence and the other the forra ;
one is the producer, the other the produced. In this sense it is the
Father is greater than the Son— than all. For this reason none is able
to pluck them out of Ms Father's hand. But this does not arise from
the Father being greater" or more powerful than the Son, as thej' are in

242 ST JOHN. [Chap, X.
themselves, but as they are in us. The Father is the Divine love ; and
when the love of God is in our hearts, the Father dAvells m us, and we
are in his hand ; and the Son is the Divine wisdom ; and when the
Lord's Avisdora or truth is in our understanding, the Son dwells m
us, and Ave are in Ms hand. Our Lord speaks of his sheep bemg both
in his hand and in his Father's hand, to teach us that those who are
truly his people are both in faith and in love to him ; and, although
these two essential Christian graces are under the double protection
of the omnipotence of his truth and love ; yet, as love or charity is the
greatest of Christian graces, it secures for the Christian the greatest
protection, since it produces the closest union Avith the Lord. There
is certamly something remarkable in the Lord's declaration respectmg
his Father and himself. He first speaks of his oavu poAver as bemg
such that none can pluck his sheep out of his baud, and then speaks
of his Father's poAver as being still greater than Ms oavu, and of those
Avho are in his hand as being still more secure than m his oavu. Yet
the Lord teUs us that the Father hath given aU poAver into the hand
of the Sou ; and we know that the Divinity exercises all its poAver by
the Humanity, that divine Love exercises all its power by divme Truth.
The practical meaning is the real one. The Lord does not speak of
the poAver of the Father and the poAver of the Son iu the absolute but
in the relative sense ; not as they are in themselves, but as they are m
us. Our love to the Lord is the Lord's love in us ; our faith iu
the Lord is his truth in us. The F''ather's poAver in us is the poAver of
his love in our hearts, the Son's poAver in us is the jioAver of his truth
in our understandings. As love is the greatest of Christian graces,
it enters most deeply into the affections of the heart, and most fuUy
into the actions of the life. The Lord's love m the heart is
that which forms our best, and indeed, our oMy ground of security ;
and this our Lord teaches Avhen he says, " the Father gave them
to me," inthnatmg that it is oidy those Avhose faith has its origin
iu love who can enjoy the security of his divine protection — the double
protection of his truth and of his love. These are the hand of the
Soil and the hand of the Father, from which no poAver can pluck us.
30. But although the attributes, or rather essentials, of love and
Avisdom in the Lord are distinct, they are yet one and inseparable. I
and the Futher are one. Whether Ave speali of divhiity and humaMty,
or of love and Avisdom, in the Lord, unity is equaUj' to be understood
as necessarUy belonging to them. We need not enter hito the doctrinal
idea, so as to present it under a controversial aspect. The unity of the
Godhead must be a real unity. Two persons and one God present

Chap. X.] ST. JOHN, 243
indeed the real idea of two, but not the real idea of one. But a real
distinction and an equally rettl union are presented to the mind, Avhen
divinity and humanity are the Iavo, and the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the one. For the distinction and union are then seen to be
as perfect as those of soul and body in man. And if Ave look at the
subject under another aspect, it is the same. Love and Avisdom in the
Lord are like avUI and understanding in man, or, Avliat amounts to the
same, hke charity and faith, or good and truth, m the mind. Aud here
Ave may remark that the Lord's Avords, " I aud the Father are one," are
equaUy true, whether Ave consider it applicable to the Lord himself, or
to the Lord in the nUnds of the regenerate. The tAvo esseutial principles
are one iu their divine source, and in their sincere human recipient.
31. Then fhe Jews took up stones again to stone him. We fiud in a
future verse the reason of this meditated violence. We only remark
here on its sphitual sense. The more exalted a truth is, aud the
more plaiMy it is declared to those Avho are m a negative spirit, the
more violent is their hatred and opposition to it. TMs taking up
stones to stone Jesus, symbolized an act of those who are spiritually
opposed to the Lord's truth. Stones signify falsities ; and their
taking them up signifies the raising of falsities out of the memory into
the inteUect, and thence holding them m readmess to destroy Avitli
them, if possible, the hated teuth. It is remarkable that the infuriated
Jews never actuaUy stoned Jesus, even when they seized the stones with
the intention of domg so. They were overawed by his calm and com
manding presence, and restrained by his divine influence. W^e can
hartUy imagine more power than that exercised by the Lord over the
Jews on these occasions. There is no intimation and no indication of
fear, no shrinking in the presence of an iMuriated people, burning Avith- ..
mtense reUgious zeal to avenge what they regarded as an outrage on
theh faith. This poAver OA'er his enemies must have been greatly hi--
creased by the words he addressed to them, and his manner m doing so.
32. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from
my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me ? The Lord had
done many good Avorks ; and even his enemies could not convict him
of havmg done an evU one. F"'or wMch of those beneficent works did
they mtend to stone him? This question may stUl be asked of those
who take up the weapons of falsehood to destroy the truth, which they
hate but cannot gamsay. The Lord appeals to the good he had done:
from his Father, the very character of which evinced that they were-
done by divme power, and beneficent as weU as divme. They were
done from infinite lov-e, tMs being mdicated by the Lord's declaration

244 ST. JOHN. • [Chap. X.
that they originated with his Father. If divine Truth acts from
divine Love, and therefore does nothing but good, against which par
ticular good is the opposition directed? To demand of man Avhat
particular good they oppose, is similar to demanding of them from
Avhat particular evU their opposition to good proceeds ; thus it is the
same as to ask them to examine themselves, m order to discover their
particular sins.
33. The Jews answered him, saying. For a good work we stone thee
not, but fur blasphemy ; and because tlud thou, being a man, makest
thyself God. It has been often and well remarked, that these Jewish
students of the Old Testament understood the Lord's claim of unity
with the Father to have been equivalent to his claiming to be God.
It shoAvs, hoAvever, that Avhile they understood him as claiming to be
God, they believed Mm to be no more than man. Neither his Avorks
nor his teaching had impressed them Avitli the idea that he had auA'
claim to divinity. They considered him guilty of blasphemy in speak
ing of oneness Avith God. Yet they themselves Avere guilty of this
sin, for they blasphemed the truth in turning the Avords of Jesus mto
falsehood. And this is stiU the cause of offence to the natural man,
that "thou, being a man, makest thyself God." Not simply the
divinity of the Lord, but the divinity of his humanity, wMch the
Lord's claim impUes, is the great stumbUng-stone and rock of offence
to the natural mind. TMs is the truth that the natural man denies
and falsifies, and would AvUlingly extinguish. It is, in his estimation,
blasphemy for the Lord to say he is the Son of God. To say this is
the same as to assert that his humanity is divine. For the Lord was
the Son of God as to his humanity ; and he was the Son of God, not
only as born of Mary, when he came into the world, but especially as
born of God, when he went out of the Avorld. This birth was glorifi
cation, and to glorUy is to make divine.
34-36. To the accusation that, in claimmg to be the Son of God, the
Lord made himself God, he answered them. Is it not written in your
law, I said, Ye are gods ? If he called them gods, unto whom the word
of God came, and the scripture cannot he broken ; say ye of him, whom
the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world. Thou blaspheinest;
because I said, 1 am the Son of God ? The Lord condemns them by
their own law. If those to Avhoni the word of God came were thence
called gods, Jesus, whom God had sanctified and sent into the world,
coidd not blaspheme in calling himself the Son of God. The passage
in the "laAv" referred to is in the 82d Psalm, "I have said. Ye are
gods." The reason of this application of the Divine name to men is

Chap. X.] ST, JOHN. 245
to be found in its sphitual meaning. It is known that ihe name it
self is in the plural form, and, when applied to the Divine Being, is
considered to express excellence. But the spiritual ground of that
form is, that the name is expressive of the divine nature as to truth,
Avhile Jehovah is expressive of the divine nature as to good : and
Truth is manifold, but Good is one. God (Elohim) is therefore ex
pressive of the Divine Truth in heaven and in the church ; and there
fore is applied both to angels and men, as in Psalms viii. 5 ; Ixxxii.
1,6; who are called gods from their reception of divine truths from
the Lord. But if they are called gods to whom the word of God
came, how much more entitled to the name of God must he be avIio is
the Word of God itself, who was "iu the beginning Avith God, aud
was God," and who came to enlighten angels and men ? Those, spirit
ually understood, to whom the Avord of God comes, are the regenerate;
AA'ho, as such, are, "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Pet. i. 4).
But he Avbom the I'ather sanctified and sent into Avorld, is the Eternal
Word, the Holy One, begotten of the Father, and, as such, is not
simply a partaker, but the possessor of the Divine nature, all the
fulness of the Godhead dAvelling bodily in Mm (Col. ii. 9). The name
Son of God, we have seen, denotes especially the humanity glorified,
this being truly the Son, by actual birth of the Father. Jesus by
glorification is the Son in the divine sense, as we by regeneration are
sons in the spiritual sense. The Lord speaks of being sanctified be
fore being sent into the world. To be sanctified is the same as to be
anointed. As the anointed, Jesus is the Christ. The holy oil was a
symbol of the divine Love ; and Jesus is the anointed as divine
Wisdom filled with divine Love. Such Avas the Lord Avhen he came
into the Avorld, as the Holy thing. In reference to the regenerate,
the Son is sanctified, and sent into the world by the Father, when
the Lord's truth in them is receptive of his love, and, thus sanctified,
is sent or comes forth from the heaven of the internal man into the
Avorld of the external, to redeem and save him.
37. If the Jews Avould not believe tbe word of Jesus, they might
have believed his Avorks. If I do not the works of m:y Father, believe
me not. Without entering into the dogmatic vicAv, we may observe that,
spiritually, there is a difference betAveen tbe works of the Father aud
those of the Son. Those which are called his Father's works are works
in Avhicli the Divine love and mercy are more especially manifested ;
those Avhich are called the Son's works, are Avorks in Avhich the divine
Avisdom and truth are more especiaUy manifested. In one sense aU
fhe Lord's Avorks are works of the Father, because, as he explains, the

246 ST. JOHN. [Chap. X.
Fatiier that dwelt in him did the works. But in this instance the
Lord points out the only just ground on which they could reject his
claim. " If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not." Hoav
Avere they to knoAV whether the Avorks of Jesus Avore the Avorks of Ms
Father? By not only knowing that his works Avere evidences of
divine poAvor, but that they bore the marks of divine love. But there
are internal evidences of the divinity of the Lord's works, avMcIi
never faU to convince. The Lord does the Avorks of the Father in his
children, when he does the Avorks of love in their hearts. Aud unless
we suffer these works to be done in us, Ave cannot believe in the Sou.
And this is in agreement Avith the Lord's Avords, " No one can come to
me, except the Father AvMch hath sent me draAv him.''
38. But if I do, thimgh ye believe not me, beheve the worlcs; that
ye may know, and believe that the Jfnther is in me, and I in him.
Every one knoAvs with certainty a good work, but every one does not
with equal certainty know a true Avord. The heart is a stiU better
judge than the understanding ; aud the Lord appeals from the intel
lect to the heart. " If ye believe not me, believe the works." Those
Avhicli the Lord did spoke for themselves. " No mau can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Bnt the Lord
appealed to his works, as evidences that the Father Avas in Mm, and
also that he Avas in the Father. How could auy one behold the
stupendous and beneficent AVorks Avhich Jesus performed, and yet re
fuse to believe that they proceeded from an indAveUing diA'inity? But
"there are other Avorks besides those outAvard Avorks. Those Avhich
carry conviction with them, are the Avorks Avhich are aone m the
heart itself. The works that change the heart are the Father's Avorks,
and they produce belief in the Son, and in the union of the Divine
,and Human, and of Divine good and Divine truth in the Lord the
-Saviour. 39. Therefore they sought again to take him : but he escaped out of
.their hand. Those Avho are not the subjects of the works of love, so
far are they from being converted to belief iu the words of truth, that
they are exasperated against them, and seek even to tlestroy them.
'The unbelieving stUl seek to lay hold on Jesus. The evil are desirous
to subject truth to their OAvn power. But the Lord provides against
this, by removing the truth from their presence, and thus from their
power ; it escapes out of their hand. This is another of Ms miraculous
escapes. There coidd have been, in the case of Jesus, none of those
stratagems or disguises by which, under simUar circumstances, mere
men escape from the power of numerous, exasperated, aud eager

Chap. X.] ST. JOHN, 247
enemies. These did not properly constitute a mob, the confusion of
which might give the Lord an opportunity to escape. They Avere around
Mm as hearers, disputing with him and Avith each other, and a part of
them Avere sufficiently united in design and action to have eff'ected
theh purpose, had there been nothing in the character and power of
Jesus to render their attempt abortive.
40. When Jesus escaped out of their hand, he went away again be
yond Jordan into the place where John cd first baptized; and there he
abode. Jesus may be said to have sowed in the ground which John
prepared. As John represented the letter of the Word, and Jesus Avas
the Word itself, the Lord completed and perfected in himself and in Ms
church all the states that had their beginning in John and in Ms
work. .lesus goes aAvay again beyond Jordan, to those Avithout the
church, and into the extremes, Avhere the sphere of Divine Truth ter
minates, as it flows into the humanity and into the human mind, and
thence hegins to reascend to glorification and regeneration. " Beyond
Jordan," is out of the holy land, but where there is entrance into it.
" The place where John at first baptized," is the state in Avhich the
first purUying effect of repentance is experienced. But when Jesus
comes and abides there, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire
succeeds to that of water. The outward man has been purified by self-
denial ; the inward man is uoav imbued Avith the spirit of tmth and
love. The higher gift comes when the lower duty is faithfuUy per
formed. Jesus cometh after John.
41. And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle :
but all thin.gs that John spcdce of this man were true. The people re
sorting to Jesus shoAvs reciprocation. Reciprocation is salvation. It
is not the Lord's coming to us that actually saves us ; it is our coming
to him. He is ahvays coming to us, and is always drawing us, that Ave
may come to Mm. Our being drawn, attracted, our coming — this is actual
life. Those Avho thus came to him said, " John did no miracle." This
absence of aU miraculous testimony on the part of John has often been
remarked. It shows that miracles are not the necessary credentials of
a divine messenger. Rational evidence is that Avhich belongs to a
spiritual dispensation. Here is the true Avitness, the real test — " aU
things that John spake of this man Avere true." To see the truth of
all that the Scripture saith respecting Jesus as our Saviour is the
grand point. To find him to be in us and to us all that the Scriptures
have taught and promised, is more than aU miracles and signs.
42. And many believed on Mm there. Belief was the result of find
ing in Jesus aU that John had said respecting him. Happy are they

248 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XL
whose faith in the Lord revives and vivifies in them the testimony of
the Word, and whose experience seals their intellectual convictions ;
Avho moreover find in Jesus the truth that makes them free. There,
where John baptized, is the state in which the baptism of repentance
brings forth fruits meet for repentance. There Jesus in due time
comes, and produces that Uving faith, Avhich makes those who receive
it the true disciples of Jesus, the children of their Father in heaven.

CHAPTER XI.
This chapter teaches sorae of the sublimest lessons contained in the
gospel of our Lord and Saviour. It teaches, representatively as weU
as actually, that life and immortality Avere brought to light by the
gospel. The resurrection of Lazarus from the dead represented the
raising up of a church among the Gentiles ; for all the miracles
Avrought by the Lord, as being divine, involved spiritual states of the
church. But Lazarus may be considered as representing the Gentiles
Avithin the church ; for Bethany was in Judea, aud, as the home of
the loving family of Avhich Lazarus Avas a member, was a sphitual
oasis in the desert of the JeAvish church. In its personal application,
it teaches the nature of the death in AA'hich all men are included, all
being included under sin, and the means and the power of theh resur
rection. 1. The evangelist begins his narrative by saying. Now a certain man
was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister
Martha. The brother of Martha and Mary bears a name AvMeh means
" Avhom God helps." The spiritual significance of tbe name maybe
inferred from tbe Lord's having used it in his beautiful jiarable of the
rich man and tbe beggar. Dives there signifying the Jcavs, rich in
possessing the revealed Word as tbe treasury of saving knowledge, and
Lazarus signifying the Gentiles, poor in being destitute of that source
of the true riches. The Gentile state of those, among AA'hom the Lord
Avas noAv about to establish his church, is further indicated by Lazarus
being of the toAvn of Betluxny. The palm tree, Avhich gave its name to
this village, afterAvards rendered so illustrious by the Lord's ascension
from it into heaven, is the emblem of spiritual goodness.. But Bethany
Avas a village, and as such signifies the external things of faith and con
sequently of the church, cities signifying the internal thmgs of the
church, AAdiich are eminently meant liy Jerusalem, not very remote

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 240
from which Bethany Avas situated. This suburban village of the holy
city is called the toAvn, not of Lazarus, but of Mary and her sister
^Martha. Both Lazarus and his sisters represented the Gentile church;
but he represented its intellectual, they, its voluntary principle. More
specifically, Lazarus was a type of the understanding of truth, ]\lary and
^Martha were types of tbe internal and e.xtcrnal, or spiritual and natu
ral affections of Avhich truth is the object. liazaras may be considered
as the Jacob, and IMartha and ]\Iary the Leah and Rachel, of the Ncav
Testament — Avith the difference betAvecn the Jcavs and the Gentiles.
Lazarus only Avas sick, intimating that among tbe Gentiles the intel
lectual life Avas that Avhicli was ill and ready to die, the affections being
in a condition of healthy activity — not absolutelj'- but relatively.
Among the Gentiles the afl'ections were essentially sound ; it Avtis the
thought that fell under disease, not having certain truth to inform ar.'l
guide it. The healthy affections of the mind Avere the good ground in
AvMcli the seed of the kingdom could be soavu, the medium through
Avliich the diseased and the dead intellect could be restored to life and
health, as Mary and Martha Avere the means of bringing divine help to
their brother. Lazarus aud Mary aud Martha were brother and sisters.
The relation of sisters and brother is expressive of a less internal spiri
tual relationship than that of husband and Avife ; it implies affinity but
not conjunction, at least not that intimate conjunction Avhicb consti
tutes oneness. These three, therefore, represent the three principles of
spiritual Ufe, love, charity, and faith, harmonitms but not united — three,
not one. Of these three loving ones Lazarus Avas sick. The sickness,
ending in death, is the subject of the Avhole of this interesting history,
Avhich serves as the vehicle of so much spiritual instruction. The soul
sickens as well as the body. Spiiitual sickness arises from evil or error
counteracting the operation of goodness and truth — from the activity,
iu fact, of principles opposite to, and destructive of, true life. Such
is the sickness represented by that of Lazarus; and as evils are
excited into activity by evil spirits, infestatation from such enemies
is also included in the meaning of sickness. But although Lazarus
Avas sick even uuto death, there Avas one especially avIio was netxr and
dear to him, through Avhom he had connection with the Author ol
health and life.
2. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and
wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Thi.s
act of devotion to Jesus was not performed till after Lazarus was raised
from the dead, and tiie pure love and profound humiliation Avhich it
signifies Avere the effect of this restoration to Ufe. "'i^'"e shaU speak of

250 ST, JOHN. [Chap. XI.
this when we come to the next chapter. Mary is here mentioned
alone as the loving one Avhose brother Avas sick. And for the purpose
of intimating that it Avas the inteUectual life, considered in its relation
to the sphitual affection of the mind, which was diseased and threatened
with death, she is called that Mary Avho anointed the Lord's feet
with ointment, tc distinguish her from another Mary AA'ho followed
the Lord, and to intimate that the affection she represented was that
Avhich afterAvards made to the Saviour an offering of profound love and
gratitude. The present state of Mary and of her sister Martha was one
of affliction for the sickness of their brother.
3, The sisters in their affliction sent to Jesus, who was not then in
Bethany. In tribulation the Lord appears absent, away from the soul,
and distant in proportion to the severity of the trial But the afflic
tion which produces an appearance of the Lord's absence, causes the
suffering soul to seek his presence. Therefore Mary and Martha sent
unto Jesus, saying, Lord, he whom, thou lovest is sick. A sense of the
Lord's love in states of tribulation is the foundation of hope and the
spirit of prayer. Precious is this sense of love m times of trial But
to have a sense of his love towards us his love must have a place in us.
It is his love in our hearts that turns our affections and thoughts to
Mm, to seek the salvation which he only possesses. We have an
instance of this described in the first chapter of Revelation, in the
beautiful language of correspondence. John heard a voice behind him,
saying, I am Alpha and Omega ; and when he turned to see the voice
that spake Avith him, he saAv the Son of man in the midst of seven
golden candlesticks. The Lord's love floAvs into the wiU, and the
influence of love on the will turns the understanding to Mm, to receive
his wisdom.
4. It is almost unnecessary to say that Jesus knew of this sickness
before he heard the message of Martha and Mary. SpirituaUy, the
Lord hears our prayers, when our expressed desires are m accordance
with his Avill. There is no direct petition in the sisters' message, but
one is implied ; for their object in sending to Jesus Avas to receive Ms
aid. When Jesus heard that, he said. This sickness is not unto death,
but for the glory of God, thcd the Son cf God might be glorified thereby.
The Lord expresses himself in language similar to that which he used
relative to the man Avho was born blmd. The sickness, he says, is not
unto death, yet Lazarus died. He meant that it Avas not unto perman
ent death. It Avas only uuto a death that should result in life. The
death of Lazarus was analogous to the death which the righteous die.
They die to sin, but by so doing they live to righteousness. They lay

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 251
down their own life that they raay receive life frora the Lord. The
righteous die daily, yet they never die. Every death unto sin is a re
surrection unto the life of righteousness ; and oven death to the body
is resurrection to the .spirit. The sickness of Lazarus Avas also for the
glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. "What
ever furnished the occasion for the Lord's divinity acting through his
hiiuianity was a means of his glorification. The glory of his divinity
shone forth in the act, and the glorification of his humanity Avas ad
vanced liy means of it. But not only AA'as the Lord's humanity glori
fied iu itseU ; it was glorified also in those who were the subjects of
his operations, for the Lord is also glorified in the salvation of his
creatures. 5-7. The evangelist tells us that Jesus loved Marlhn, and her
sister, and La::arus. When he had heard therefore that he ioas sick,
he abode two days still in the same place where he luas. Then after
that saith he to his disciple.'^, Let us go into Judea again. DeXa.j may
seem inconsistent vA'ith his love. It is one of the silent rebukes of his
love. "Whom the Lord loves he rebukes aud chastens." His love
exposes us to rebuke and chastening. It is the Lord's love in us that
rebukes our self-love, and the chastisement that Ave umlergo is the re
sult of the conflict betAveen them. Those Avho liave not the love of God
in their hearts htxA'e nothing that rebukes or resists their evils. They
have consequently no sphitual temptations (Ps. Ixxiii. 5). But neither
have they anj- spiiitual triumphs. Although the Lord is a very present
help in time of trouble, the tempted soul has no sense of his presence.
Temptation is a time of tribulation and darkness, during Avhich the
Lord seems far away from the desolate heart. But he is there, though
unfelt, and is active, though he seems to AvithhoLl his aid. Present in
and acting through the hidden springs of spiritual loA'e in the soul, he
controls and overrides the conflict so as to make it end in the greatest
possible good. The grand end of temptation is the conjunction of
goodness and truth, first in the mind, then and thence in the life.
This conjunction is signified by the number two. The Lord abode
two days Avhere he was, to represent that in states of temptation he
abides, though remote from man's consciousness, in the interior of the
mind, till he has effected the conjunction of good and truth there, that
he may come and complete it in the exterior of the mind also. The
Lord as the supreme good and truth, effects Ms entrance into the
inferior region of the nund through the goods and truths of the
Word. These are meant by his disciples, to Avhom he noAv proposes
" to go into Judea again." He had left Judea on account of the

252 ST. JOHN, [Chap. XL
violence of its peojtle, and had gone to the place on the other side
Jordan, where John at first baptized. The other side Jordan Avas
]-irincipaUy the region of the Gentiles, the place Avhere John baptized
denoting Avhere there is entrance into the church through the baptism
of repentance. From this place the Lord hoav proposes to depart to go
into Judea. TMs going is called again ; because spiritual life is a suc
cessive ascending and descending from the external to the internal, and
from the internal to the external, that by reciprocal and mutual action
both may be perfected, and finally conjoined.
8. His disciples say unto him. Master, the Jews of late sought to
stone thee ; and. goest thou thither again ? This describes an inquiry
suggested by the truths of the Word, which the disciples represent,
Avhether falsities (jriginating iu evils, meant by the stones of the Jews,
AAdiich had opposed the divine truth in the interior of the mind, were
not still in hostile opposition to them, and Avhether the holy truth of
the Lord Avould not be in danger of suffering violence.
9, 10. Jesvs answered. Are there not twelve hours in the day? If
any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of
this world. The answer Avhich the Lord uoav gives does not, in the
literal sense, afford any clear meaning in relation to AA'hat goes before.
Spiritually understood, the connection is clear. W"hen the true church
apprehends danger to the truth of good from the falses of evil, as the
disciples apprehended danger to Jesus from the disposition of the
Jcavs to stone him, then is the church instructed, that no danger is to
be feared while men live according to the truth, meant by Avalking in
the Ught. Independently of its connection, the Lord here teaches an
instructive lesson by beautiful and expressive imagerj'. The day and
the night, the light and the darkness, are, as every one can see, expres
sive of the two opposite states of k'nowledge and ignorance, and of
truth and error. Every one can see also that ignorance and error
cause us to stumble, and that knoAvledge and truth enable us to Avalk
securely. One of the great uses of truth is that it enables us to know
and see the Avay that leads to goodness and heaven, and to Avalk Avith
certainty and safety in it. The Lord asks, " Are there not twelve
hours in the day ?" The daj' of probation is long enough to enable
us to prepare for heaven. Yet the regenerate life is not attained by
one act or in a moment of time, but is perfected by successive states,
attained by means of truth. The successive states do not consist in
advancing degrees of the knowledge of truth, although these are neces
sary degrees of the life of truth. We must not only have the light,
but must walk in it. And the light that guides us must be in us ; for

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 253
if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light In
him. In the midst of light, we may be in darkness. It is the liglit
that shines, not around us but Avithin us, not in our memories and
Avords but hi our hearts and works, that enables us to glorify God in
domg good to men, and that thus saves our oavu souls. The Lord
caUs this light the light of this Avorld, because though divine iu its
origin and spiritual iu its nature, it enters into and eMightens the
natural mind, leading the natural thoughts, and through tiieni the
natural affections, in the paths of truth and righteousness.
11. These things said he: and after thcd he saith unto them. Our
friend Lazarus sleepeth; hut I go, tlud I may awake Mm out of sleep.
In the literal sense death is here called sleep, but iu the spiritual
sense there is a distinction betAveen them. As sleep is the suspension,
and death is the extmction, of sensible life, sleep represents a natural
state of the mtellect, and death a natural state of the Avill ; for Avhi.ui
naturaUsm invades the understanding, the functions of spiritual life
are suspended, but when it invades the Avill, they perish. This dis
tmction is seen in death itself, in AvMcli respiration of the lungs
ceases before the pulsation of the heart ; and the respiration of the
lungs corresponds to the life of the understanding, and the pulsation
of the heart to the life of the will. Spiritual death proceeds iu the
same order as natural death ; first the life of the intellect ceases, then
the hfe of the AviU. When intellectual life, or the life of truth ceases,
man sleeps ; Avhen voluntary life, or the life of good ceases, he dies.
This is the distinction meant by sleep and death in the Lord's Avords
respecting Lazarus. And the same distinction is meant by the Lord's
gomg to aAvaken Lazarus out of sleep, and raising him from the dead.
The act indeed was one, but the life Avhich he imparted Avas tAvofold,
intellectual and voluntary, the life of good aud of truth, of faith and
of love.12. When the Lord said Lazarus was asleep, the (hsciples answered,
// he sleep, he shall do well. They thought not of the sleep of death,
but of that wMch ministers to life and health, of that sleep Avhicli the
Lord gives, and of which the living say, " I wUl botii lay me doAvu iu
peace, and sleep: for thou. Lord, oMy makest me dAvell hi safety"
(Ps. iv. 8) ; the sleep into which unfaUen Adam Avas cast, during
which the hard mteUectual selfhood was taken out of him, and buUt
up into a Uving form of Ufe and beauty. This recreative sleep existed
on earth Avhen as yet there was no death, as it exists in heaven, where
they know not what death is. Spiritual Uke natural sleep is a state
in which man is passive and God alone is active, hi AA'hich the Divine

254 ST. JOHN. [Ch.vp. XL
life supplies the Avaste Avhicli human energy has exjiended, and re
stores the equUibiium which it has disturbed. Had such been the
sleep of Lazarus, he woidd have done ai'cU ; but his sleepi Avas some
thing more than this.
13. Howbeit Jesus spake of Ids death : but they thought thut he had
spoken of fuking rest in sleep. To those Avho die AvMle they Uve,
death is the extinction of their carnal life. The disciple of the Lord
dies daUy. Everj' act of self-denial is a dying to sin, aud these daUy
acts lead to a full aud final laying doAvii of the life of the corrupt self
hood. Yet on the part of the selfhood tMs is not a voluntary act.
Our Lord's oavu case affords the highest example of this. He laid
down his life, no one took it from him ; yet even he shrank from the
last agony, and prayed that the cup might pass from him ; his hfe also
Avas taken by his enemies, aud in them it Avas a Avicked deed. The
death of the selfhood is an agony, and is effected by the agency of evil
spirits, Avho excite it into activity. Their purpose is the destruction
of the Avhole mau ; but when the conflict is over, they find themselves
only in possession of the body of sin ; the soM of righteousness, AA'hich
had Uved in it, is safe in the hand of the Lord, Avho is the Conqueror
of hell and of death.
14. Then Jesus suid unto, them p)lainly, Lazarus is dead. .He an
nounced the end of the conflict, even to the giving up of the life of
the old mau, though not yet to the taking up the lUe of the new.
TMs is another act.
15. It is because even this kind of death is the gate of Ufe, that the
Lord said to his disciples. And I am glad fur your sakes tlud I was not
there, to the intent ye may believe. The Lord is intimately present
with the Christian in states of temptation, Avithout AA'hose poAver he
woMd utterly faU ; but he is present m the final ends and tranqml
affections of the inner hfe, not in the tumMt of conflicting passions in
the outer man. We are ruled by our ends, and on these the resMt of
temptation depends. If the Lord is in our ends of life, he is then in
aU the conflicts of life, working out a happy issue ; but Ms presence is
not perceived ; he even seems to be far aAvay. If Ms presence Avere
perceived in times of tribulation, the temptation would be arrested,
and the evil in AvMch it origmated woiUd remam unsubdued. If the
Lord's presence be perceived, there can be none of the tribMation of
temptation. The presence of the one impUes the absence of the other.
The Lord is not in the Avmd, the earthquake, or the fire, but iu the
stUl small voice which is heard when aU the noise and tuiuMt of
temptation is past (1 Kings xix. 11, 12). The chUdren of the bride-

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 255
chamber cannot fast so long as the bridegroom is Avith them. Jesus
Avas glad that he Avas not there Avhen Lazarus Avas sick ; and he Avas
glad for the sake of his disciples, that they might beheve. Tempta
tion is permitted, and is allowed to go on to its end, for the purpose of
confirmmg our fiiitli, for thtit Avhieli removes evil removes obstructions
to faith and to every other grace. In the Mstorical sense, the death of
one is here permitted for the benefit of others ; and no doubt every such
dispensation is for use to the living as Avell as to the dead, but in the
spiritual sense all the persons concerned are members of one body, Avho
suffer and rejoice together — principles hi one person, Avliich, however
distmct, participate m the common good or ill. The disciples repre
sent aU the principles of goodness aud truth Avliich constitute the
church or the kingdom of the Lord in the human mind. How then
could they I'equhe to be confirmed in faith ? These jirmciples are con
firmed iu faith Avhen they are confirnied in the human mind. They
beheve Avlieu they are beheved. Truth itself cannot doubt or disbe
lieve, yet there can be no doubt or disbelief Avithout it. What is
doubt or disbelief, but doubt or disbelief of the truth ? Doubt conies
between a state of knowledge and a state of faith. As perfect love
casteth out fear, so jierfcct faith casteth out doubt ; and doubt and dis
belief must pass through a death, that faith may experience a resurrec
tion. A UCAV faith Avas to be begotten m the disciples at the tomb of
Lazarus. Therefore said our Lord, Let us go unto him.
16. Then suid Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow-
disciples. Let us also go, that we may die with him. LiteraUy, this re
fers to the death of Jesus, Avhich the disciples apprehended from the
violence of the Jcavs (v. 8). SpirituaUy, AviUingness to die Avith Jesus
is AvUUngness to die Ms death, that Ave may obtain his resurrection.
The apostle PaM speaks of us dying Avith Christ, that Ave lutiy rise Avith
Mm. TMs dymg is proposed by Thomas. That apostle, Avho refused
to beheve in the Lord's resuiTection tiU he had put his Migers mto the
prints of the naUs, and thrust his hand into his side, represented sensu
ous faith, or, m reference to that Avhioh is behoved, the truth Avhich
addresses itseU to the senses. What then do we learn from this pro
posal coming from Thomas ? W^e learn that even the most external
truths of the Word teach the necessity of following the Lord unto
death ; and that the most external faith necessarily includes it. And
that wMch is included in the lowest truth is oontamed iu and is the
concurrent testimony of aU truth, meant by Thomas saymg unto Ms
feUow-disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with hhn."
17, Tlien, when Jesus came, he found that he had lean in the grave

256 ST, JOHN. [Chap, XL
four duys already. Four, like Iavo, signifies conjunction. Death, in
regard to the evil, is the conjunction of evil and falsity, as life is of
goodness aud truth ; but in respect to the regenerating mau, it signifies
the laying doAvn of the life of the selfhood, as to everything evU and
false. But Lazarus had not only been dead, but had lain in the grave
four days. There is a difference betAveen death and burial, between
being dead and in the grave. Death is the extinction of life, burial
the rejection of that Avhich is dead. The grave therefore signifies a
state of deeper temptation than death itseU ; so that to brmg one
up from the grave, is expressive of deliverance from a deeper state of
spiritual death, or spiiitual temptation, than simply restoration to life.
In the Word Ave find death and the grave mentioned together ; and one
of the most impassioned predictions of the Lord's commg represents
him, as exclaiming, " I will ransom them from the poAver of the grave ;
I Avill redeem them from death : O death, I Avill be thy plagues ; O
grave, I Avill be thy destruction" (Hosea xiii. 14), Death and the
grave, or death and hell, are the Iavo evUs opposed to life and heaven,
which the Lord came to conquer.
18. Now Bethany wus nigh unto Jerusulem, about fifteen furlongs
off. The history now turns from the dead to the living, and first to
the place Avhere they reside. Bethany aheady mentioned as the place
of Martha and Mary, is uoav spoken of as to its distance from Jerusalero.
Bethany being nigh to Jerusalem teaches us that the state of the
Gentiles Avithin the church Avas but little removed from that of the
church itself The relative state is more exactly described by the
measured distance of the village from the city — about fUteen furlongs.
Furlongs, like the Avays measured by them, signify progression by suc
cessive stages from one state to another. The number fifteen derives
its signification from its components, ten and five. Ten signifies re
mains, and five a little. Thus understood, the distance of Bethany
from Jerusalem tells us that, even Avith those Avithin the church who
Avere m a Gentile or simple state, the "remains" of truth were so fcAv
that hardly anything of intellectual spiritual life existed. The spirit
indeed Avas willing, but the flesh Avas weak, and even dead. Affection
for good and truth remained in the inward man, but there was no
corresponding living truth and good in the outward man. And when
this is the case, man is practicaUy dead ; for spiiitual lUe consists in
the united and harmonious action of affection and thought, and of
charity and faith. There is this, however, to be observed, that Avhere
there is iiiAvard affection, there is not only the capacity but the desire
for neAV life ; which is not the case Avhen affection itself is dead. The

Chap. XI.] ST. JOHN. 257
sisters of Lazarus survived Mm, and through them the dead was re
stored to life.
19. Before Jesus arrived, many of the Jews came to Martha and
Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. The Jews are those
who belong to the church ; abstractly, they are the principles of the
church. The principles of the church, even when the church is in a
perverted state, afford comfort and support to the affections in states of
desolation. And even when the truths of the Word are perverted,
the single-mmded can see and receive them without the perversion.
For truths are not perverted in themselves, but m human minds, and
m their explanation and application of them ; and in the simple who
receive thera Avithout the subtle reasoning which falsifies them, find
many that comfort them in their affliction, and that comfort them as
the Jews comforted ]\lartha and Mary, " concerning their brother."
The brother of the aff'ections of charity, Avhich belong to the inner
man, is the good of faith and charity in the outer man ; and even iu
regard to this, the loving always find many truths Avhich admmister
comfort and insphe hope.
20. But another and higher comforter was now approaching.
Martha, as soon as she heard that Je.sus wus coming, went and
met him: but Mury sut still in the house. Hearing of the Lord's
approach, Martha did not take time to inform her sister, but went at
once to meet Mm. Comparatively external, the natural affection of
tmth receives the first notice of the Lord's approach, and first goes
forth to meet him ; the spiritual affection, which is more interior,
remammg for a time unconscious and inactive in the wUl, Avhich is
its house, except that its influence extends to the loAver faculty,
which it aids in its perceptions and determinations.
21. ITieii said, Murtha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hudst been here, my
brother hud not died. Whether we regard the death of Lazarus as re
presenting the end of the church or the crisis of individual temptation,
the presence of Jesus would prevent that death ; but Jesus withheld
his presence, because in each case there must be death that there may
be life, an end that there may be a beginning.
22. But (continues Martha) / know, thut even now, whutsoever
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Martha evidently
desired and looked to the restoration of her brother. Martha, it
raay be supposed, had at this time no very just idea of the divinity
of the Lord, but she evidently thought Mm endowed with more than
human power, or had power with God, otherwise she could not have
thought that whatever he asked of God, even to the revival of her
K

258 ST, JOHN. [Chap, XI,
brother to life, would be granted to his prayers. But whatever may
have been her own ideas, she speaks the spiritual faith of those who
are bemg regenerated, when they approach the Lord's divinity through
his humanity, and feel entirely satisfied that whatsoever the Lord's
divine truth approves, his divine love will bestow ; for Avhen God is
mentioned in relation to Jesus, the Lord's divinity or his divme love
is meant, 23. In answer to this expression of Martha's confidence in the
Lord's ability to procure whatever he saw good to ask, Je^us saith
unto her. Thy brother shall rise again. SpirituaUy understood, this
is significative of a hope and belief, inspired by the Lord into the
mmds of the faithful after temptation, that its result Avill be the re
storation to life of that which has died in the conflict, and that,
according to the Lord's own promise, the life that is laid down shall
be received again, so that every trial in which one is faithfM unto
death shall receive a crown of life.
24. On receiving this assurance, Martha saith unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection ut the lust duy. Naturally
considered, this affords an instructive instance of the form wMch
divine truth takes in the minds of men, according to the particular
notion they happen to entertain on any subject of religious belief.
When the Lord spoke of the resurrection, Martha understood his
words in her own way, different from the meaning of him AA'ho uttered
them. And so it is stiU in this and many other subjects of doctrine,
God's truth is often very different in the human mind from Avhat it is
in the divine mind, and declared in the divine Word. "When it enters
the understanding, it is moulded by the preconceived notion or behef.
On the subject of the resurrection, how much do the Avords of Scrip
ture assume, in the minds of men, the form that the Lord's words
took in the mind of Martha. The men of the church, Avhen the
rising from the dead is mentioned, very generally think as Martha
spoke, that the dead will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
On the contrary, if the language of inspiration be allowed to express
its own divine meaning, it will be found to teach, what our Lord in
tended to teach Martha, that the resurrection takes place now — im
mediately after the death of the body. In the present mstance, in
deed, the resurrection of Lazixrus was but a natural and temporary
restoration ; but it Avas the symbol of the true resurrection, both from
the death of sin unto the life of righteousness, and from the dead body
into the eternal world. SpirituaUy, the words of Martha express the
first impressions that the words of promise make upon the mind after

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 259
temptation, that rencAval is only to be expected Avheii all the states of
Ufe have run their course and come to their final conclusion; and
that faith, or rather the good of faith, Avhich is the brother, shall only
be restored to the affections of truth and good, which are the sisters,
when the last state of the life of reformation has come.
25, 26. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life.
One of the greatest and most blessed of the truths revealed m the
gospel is that Avhioh our Lord now announces, that he is the resurrec
tion and the hfe. He is the resurrection, as the first begotten frora the
dead. To understand and see the force of this divine attribution, we
must divest our minds of the idea that the .Lord's was the first of a
universal resurrection of bodies " at the last day ofthis world." Jesus,
it is true, rose with his body ; but his resurrection was identical with
his glorification; and his glorification answers to our regeneration.
That from which the Lord came to deliver us was spiritual death. He
took upon Mmself human nature as it was degenerate and even dead ;
and he made it not only living but Life, not only perfect but Perfection.
Natural death was not the fruit of sin. The Creator never intended
to bestow natural immortality upon man. Man was made for another
and higher state of existence. To this, natural death and the grave
Avere the necessary passage. The body, once removed, can never be
resumed ; it can never rise from the dead. Far more stupendous Avas
the Lord's resurrection, and far more beneficent its design, than to be
the first-fruits of a resurrection of dead material bodies. By Ms divine
Avork the Lord became the resurrection and the life, as the author of
our resurrection from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. He,
indeed, raised up the body of Lazarus, but this was only a temporary,
and a type of the true, resurrection. This is evident from the Lord's ;
oAvn words on this occasion. For AA'hen caUing himself the resurrec
tion and the lUe, he adds, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live, awl whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, sliull never die.
Only of the spiritually dead could this be said. They only, being
dead, can believe, and being aUve, can never die. And well may the-
Lord demand of us, as he did of Martha, Believest thou this ? This
belief brings salvation, for it brings us into livmg connection Avith him
who is to us the resurrection and the life ; but what spiritual profit
could there be in believmg that, because Jesus rose from the grave, Ave
shall rise likewise ? No ; it was to give life to our souls, not to our
bodies, that the Lord became the first-begotten from the dead, the first-
fruits of them that slept.
The subject requires little difference of treatment or application.

260 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XL
As the Lord himself passed this death to become the resurrection, so
must his disciples : he by his own power, they by his power m them.
Dymg to sm is the death of the righteous ; living to Christ is their
resurrection. And when the Lord's resurrection life is wrought into
the affections, then it is that, tMough them, life is communicated to
the natural or external thoughts, and that the believer is raised into
newness of life. His demand to Martha is therefore an appeal to aU
the spiritually dead. It is obvious that the dead Avho can hear the
voice of the Son of man, and can believe in him, must have the faculty
of hearing and believing. However dead in sin a man may be, the
faculty of believing and loving never dies ; and in all minds something
of affection for goodness and truth, insinuated into every mind in early
life, is providentially preserved. Thus then the Lord addresses us ;
through these he raises us up. These are the Martha and Mary,
through whose belief and love the dead soul is raised to life.
27. To the question of the Saviour, Believest thou this? Martha
answers, Yeu, Lord : I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God,
which should come into the world. Whatever phases her faith had
]iassed through respecting her brother's death and the Lord's power to
restore him, her belief had now reached its culminating pomt, or at
least it came out in tiU its fulness, as if she felt that everything that
Jesus could be to her and her sister, or could demand of them, Avas
included in this, that he was the Christ, the Son of God, that should
, come into the Avorld. It has been- remarked on this jiart of the narra
tive, that Martha sIioavs some degree of vacUlatitm, as if she hardly
knew what to believe or hope. After temptation there is fluctuation,
as, in ordinary circumstances, after a storm at sea, there is an agitation
of the waters before they subside into repose. This state of fluctua
tion takes place between death and resurrection, and is the state here
described. In this state there is an alternate looking backAvards and
forAvards, as Martha looked back to her brother's death, as a catastrophe
which might have been prevented, and then forward to somethmg that
Jesus might stiU do for the sisters in their calamity, cA'en to the restor
ing of Lazarus. There is also a fluctuation in the state of one's faith ;
but this is substantially at an end Avlien the soul is able to end aU
reasonings and doubts, in the fuU assurance that he on Avhoiu Ave have
to lean is the CMist, the Son of God, that should oome into the Avorld.
The Lord is to us the CMist, Avhen he is the divine Truth, -that
eMightens our darkness and dissipates our unbelief ; he is the Son of
God to us, Avlieii we not only see that he is the omnipotent Truth, but
Avhen we know that, as the eternal Truth, he proceeds frora infinite

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 261
Love, and that both are embodied m his divine humanity. And he
comes into the world practically to us, when the poAver of his truth
and the infiuence of his love are manifested in our experience, in
ruling and sanctifymg the affections and thoughts of our natural mmd.
28. When the faith of Martha is thus called into action and fixed
by confession, she goes away and calls Mury her sister secretly, saying.
The Muster is come, and calleth for thee. The good natural affection
excites the spiritual affection. Martha is said to tell her sister secretl}'
or privately, to express the spiritual idea that our affections act uptii
each other imperceptibly ; and that spiritual affections themselves are to
receive these impressions and communications apart from aU other
extraneous affections, such as were represented by those Avho came to
comfort the sisters concerning their brother. The joyful announcement
is made, "The Master is come." The Comforter, the Restorer, is here.
He who in the dark hours of tribulation had been absent ; who was
sent for and longed for, but had never appeared, he is now come.
What joy to the tempted soul, sitting in desolation, to be made sensible
of the presence of him who himself has known all our tribMations,
though he seemed wUling to leave us in our affliction. But he has
not only come, but " calleth for thee." There is stiU greater cause to
rejoice. The Lord's call is general and particular. The general caU
is given to every human being. Spiritually, his general call is to those
Avho know him, his particMar call is to those Avho love him. These
are they Avhom he caUs by name, whose character is in harmony with
Ms own, and whose affections and thoughts are admissive of his love
and truth. In this simple relation we see the nature and purpose of
the Divine operation upon our soMs. The Loid comes to us by mflux
into our affections, and his purpose is to draAv those affections to himself,
and by theh means to turn our thoughts to Mm as their life and Ught.
29. Mary, Avho rejoiced in her Saviour's presence, Avas not slow to
answer his caU. As soon as she heard, she arose quickly, and came
unto him. To hear is to perceive from affection, as to see is to per
ceive from thought. A sense of the Divine presence produces elevation
of heart, which is spirituaUy to rise ; and when the affection is ardent,
this is done qMckly, for ardency of feeling produces celerity of motion,
and is therefore represented by it. When quickness is precUcated of
the divine Being, as when the Lord promises to come quickly, it means
certahdy ; but this can be oMy conditionaUy promised as the resMt of
human action, Mary, when she had risen up, came to Jesus : and the
practical way of coming to the Lord is to do his wUl. AU elevation is
of the wUl, aU progression is of the life. These are real changes of

262 ST. JOHN, , [Chap. XL
state, which bring us nearer to Jesus, because they make us more like
him. 30. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but wus in that place
where Murtha met Mm. Martha, as representing the natural affection,
went out to meet Jesus before he entered the toAvn, wliUe Mary sat still
in the house. A house in a town is comparatively as the wUl in the
understanding, the Avill being the home of those principles which are
the objects of our life's love, and the understanding being the dwelling-
place of those principles Avhich are the objects of our general affections
and perceptions. Jesus had not entered into the toAvn, much less into
the house, but Avas Avithout. In our states of spiritual affliction, Jesus,
to our own consciousness at least, is out of our hearts and even of our
understandings. Our love for him has not indeed died out, but he
seems not to be there ; we have a sense of Avant and desolation. The
signs of rencAving life are manifested in our going out to meet him,
Avhen we become aAvare of his approach. He conies to us ; and Ave
should go out to meet him ; and if we do so, he Avill return Avith us
into the heart and mind, where he deshes to be Avith us as our Saviour
and friend. The state of those who are being regenerated, when the
Lord has visited them iu their temptations," but has not vet entered,
as the Healer and Restorer, as their Saviour and Comforter, into their
understandings and hearts, is representatively described in Jesus, who
had come to the aid of the sisters, not yet having come into the town,
but being in the place Avhere Martha met Mm.
31. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted
her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, fol
lowed her, saying. She goeth unto the grave to weep there. In the
Word the Jews have the same signification as Judah, from Avliom they
were descended, and denote principles of good, or, in the opposite
sense, of evU. It is no doubt on account of theh representative cha
racter that the people are generally called Jews in the gcspel of John,
where the name occurs much more frequently than m aU the other
gospels together. John is eminently the evangelist, as Avell as the
apostle, of love and goodness. In the internal historical sense, these
Jews were those of the old who had attached themselves to the
neAV Church which was about to be raised up by the Lord, or had come
-under the influence of the affection by which it was distmguished.
Theh foUoAving Mary further expresses the willingness of such ad
herents to act and live under the infiuence of the spiritual affection of
good and truth. In the internal sense, they represent good principles
existing in the mind as knowdedges, that trial and temptation have called

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 263
into action and brought into sympathetic connection with the spiritual
affection of good and truth m the heart, and which foUoAv Avhere it
leads. These Jews Avere, hoAvever, under the impression that Mary
Avas gomg to the grave to weep there, being yet unaAvare that she was
going, not merely to lament for the dead, but to meet him that Uveth
and giveth life. This they had yet to learn.
32. Tlien when Mary had come where Jesus was, and saw him, she
fell down at his feet, saying unto him. Lord, if thou hadst been here,
my brother had not died. Mary expresses the same regretfM senti
ment that had been uttered by Martha ; but m Mary it is accompanied
with a more profound humiliation : she falls doAvn at the Lord's feet and
worships him. The sight of Jesus Avas sufficient to produce this pros
tration. And this sight Avas eAidently, in her case, an act of true faith,
AA'hich it also represented, faith looking upon its supreme and beloved
Object through the eye of sense as Avell as through the eye of the mind.
Mary came, and saAv, and worshipped. This AA'as to be expected of her
Avho sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. The higher the love, the
deeper the humihation. And when Mary had tMoAvn herself at her
Saviour's feet, she uttered the lamentation, which spoke of her confi
dence in the divine power of Jesus, " Lord, if thou hadst been here,
my brother had not died." It is much to knoAV that Jesus can pre
serve from death, it is more to know that he can restore to life. This
Mary and Martha were about to see with their eyes ; as all may with
the eye of faith, if they wUl but rely on the Lord for new and eternal
Ufe. 33. And UOAV we come to one of the most touching manifestations
AA'Mch the gospel records of the human character of our blessed Lord.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews cdso weeping
which cume with her, he grouned in the spirit, und was troubled. The
scene on which we uoav enter exhibits the great, mstructive, and con
solatory truth, that the Lord and Saviour has a fellow-feeling with the
sufferings and sorrowsof the objects of his saving mercy. This truth is
weU expressed in the epistle to the Hebrews. "For we have not an
high priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities ;
but was in aU pomts tempted as we are, yet without sin" (iv. 15).
The Lord knew the infirmities of our nature, and commiserated our
condition, and was as willing to reUeve and help us before, as he was
after, Ms incarnation. It may be said that before his mcarnation he
felt for us, that since his mcarnation he feels with us. The advan-
tiige, m this respect, that we derive from the Lord's manifestation in
the fiesh is, that havmg, as a man, passed through aU human sorroAV,

264 ST, JOHN, [Chap, XL
suffering, and temptation, he can now, through his humanity, enter
into all these states in our human experience, Avith the power to sup
port us under them, and bring us through thera, into states of spiritual
and heavenly life, in AA'hich all sorroAv and suffering shall cease. The
Lord having been in all points tempted as we are, but without sin, he
entered into aU the feelings of humanity apart from theh impurity,
and consecrated all human affections to the service of Ms Divinity.
The Lord's Humanity pervades all humanity as a qMckening sphit,
ready to spiritualize and sanctify all human sorrows. We have a
manifestation of the sympathy or feUoAV-feeling of the Lord with
men in the circumstance, which is here recorded, of Jesus, when
he saw Mary weeping, and the Jbavs also weeping which came
Avitii her, "groaning in the spirit, and being troubled." Weepmg
is the effect of love and sorroAv. Sorrow is bereaved affection ; Ave
oMj' grieve where we love. But in death there is joy as weU as
sorroAv — ^joy that a mau is born into the eternal Avorld. Weeping for
the dead is expressive of the first, not exclusive of the second ; the
Christian does not sorroAv as those Avho have no hope. Spritually, that
noAV treated is the state which intervenes betAveen death and resurrec
tion, when the old man has died, and the ucav man does not yet live,
Avhen the soul has a returnmg sense of the divine presence, though not
yet of the divine power. It is then that ]\rary weeps, and the Jews
that are with her; that spiritual affection, bereaved of the truth which
had been the object of its attachuient, and on which it leaned for
support aud protection, has sorrow, which, for the moment, is increased
by a sense of the divine presence, as our great sorrows are by the sight
of a beloved friend, which calls up the remembrance of our calamity,
and most AA'hen that friend most deeply sympatMzes with us. And
not only is the ruling affection thus moA'ed, the attendant affections
are moved with it, as Mary's JcAvish friends Avept Avith her. But the
most striking and important circumstance in this part of the narrative
is the infiuence which the sorroAV of the sister of Lazarus and those Avho
foUowed her had upon Jesus. When he saw Mary weeping, and the
Jews that Avere with her Aveeping, he groaned in the spirit and Avas
troubled. In regard to the Lord Avheii on earth, his indAvelling
Divmity produced in Ms fraU humanity the same feelings and the same
modes of giving vent to them that he now does in us. The human
feelings of Jesus might be partiy emotional, but essentially they were
the outbirth of his divme love, as tender mercy and compassion,
clothed in the susceptibilities of the human nature, m which Ms
divinity, with all its attributes, dwelt. Even in the literal sense of the

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 265
present passage this idea is expressed, for it reads, not that he was
troubled, but that he troubled himself This finiteness of these hu
man feelmgs was, however, removed when the Lord glorified Ms
humaMty. Yet those Scriptures which ascribe these merely human
feelmgs to the Lord are stiU true. They cannot be true absolutelj-,
but they are true, and Avill ever remain true, relatively. Accord
mg to the letter of Scripture, the Lord is moved by the tears and
prayers of his creatures. This is an appearance, the real truth being,
that the Lord's love is moved in us, Avhen our hearts are touched by
its divine influence. The Lord never groans in spirit or is troubled in
bhuseU, but he groans and is troubled in us,- Avhen in spirit we groan
and are troubled on accomit of our sinf'Mness, and pray to him for
dehverance. The Lord's groaning and tribulation of spirit at the
grave of Lazarus Avere, as Ave afterAvards learn, iuAvard prayers, AA'hich he
addressed to the Father. Such human prayers Avere offered by him in
his states of humUiation ; uoav, he only prays in us, or enables us to
pray, m our states of humiliation. The same tmth is expressed,
though not by the same word, by the apostle, where he says, that
" the Sphit itself maketh intercession for us Avitli groanings avMcu
cannot be uttered" (Rom. viii. 26). It mtty be evident to every one
that the Sphit of the Lord can neither intercede nor groan, except in
and tMough the human mind. The idea of personal intercession by
a (Uvme Spirit, agitated by human emotions, is inconsistent with
CA'ery just conception of the nature of an infinite and unchangeable
Bemg. Only in the finite mhid can the infinite Spirit assume finite
human feelings, and express itself by them ; and oMy through the
fiMte mind can there be mtercession Avith God. So with the groan
ing of Jesus. The Lord stUl groans in sphit aud is troubled, when
he inspires the lovmg and devout mind with a deep sense of its in
firmities and unAvorthiness, and Avith an earnest desire to receive from
Mm the blessing of eternal life.
34. The Lord now asks, 'Wliere have ye laid Mm? Here again is
an apparent tmth. Jesus, Avho at a distance kucAv Avhen Lazarus
died, could not but know Avhere he was buried. Yet he asks, as U he
needed to be hiformed; but he asks for our sake. The question
"WTiere? has an important meaning for us. We may caU to remem
brance the mourMul complaint of Mary. " They have taken aAvay my
Lord, and I know not where they have laid hhn." In the present
case, Jesus himself is the speaker. As place is the symbol of state,
the Lord's question. Where have they laid him ? is designed to lead
us to reflect on the state of deadness which exists m our own minds.

266 ST. JOHN, [Chap. XL
and as we ourselves have left it. But the Lord asks that Ave may
ausAver him. What Ave seem to reveal to the Lord, is in truth a reve
lation from the Lord to us. So Avith the answer of those to Avhom he
addressed his inquiry, Lord, come and see. The Lord comes and sees,
A\-hen he enables us to come and see. AU progressiim and perception
which the Word predicates of the Lord is to be understood of the
Lord m us. When his love is increased in our hearts, he comes ;
when his wisdom is increased in our understanding, he sees. To ask
the Lord to come and see where Lazarus was laid, is to desire that the
influence of the Lord's love and the light of his tmth may be brought
to bear upon the natural mind, and upon the principle of faith wMch
lies buried in it, having died because of the absence of him who is
both its Ufe and light, for Martha herself testified, " If thou hadst
been here, my brother had not died."
35. Jesus wept. Hoav solemn, impressive, and significant ! .lesus weep
ing was Divine love grieving. When the Son of man wept, it was not
for Lazarus alone, who had fallen t.sleep that he might be awakened
again, who had died that he might be restored to the temporary en
joyment of natural life. The Lord wept over the spiritual condition
of those Avhoiii Lazarus represented. In the largest sense, he was a
type of the human race. Death had seized upon them, the grave had
SAvalloAved them up. Such was the state of niankind at the time of
the Lord's coming, as described by prophets and apostles. It is evident
from his words to Martha, that Jesus then looked through the scene
presented at the graA'e of Lazarus, to one of immeasurably greater
importance. He looked through the temporary death and resurrection
of Lazarus to the spiritual death and resurrection of niankind — to the
death iu Avhich he found them at his coming, to the resurrection Avhich
he came to ptrovide for them. Such a vicAV of the subject makes the
occasion worthy of the tears of Mm who came to save his people from
their sins. And Avhen thus contemplated, how significant and pre
cious do the tears of Jesus become ! Most real and expressive are they
Avheii knoAvn to have been shed over the .spiritual condition of the
human race. Had Jesus been nothing more than man, his tears might
have been an appropriate tribute of natural affection for the death
of a friend. But regarded as God-Man, Avhose loA'e embraced the
whole human race, Avhoui he had come to seek and to save, Ave can
hardly conceive it possible that the case of Lazarus could demand
or deserve such a manifestation of feeling. When the whole race of
sinful men in their lost condition was before the mind of the Saviour,
we can see that his tears Avere not the effect of mere human feeling

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 267
for the transient death, or suspended animation, of a single human
being, but the effect and expression of infinite loA'e for the spiritutil
death and eternal ruin of the whole human famU.y. More eloquently
than AA'ords do the Lord's tears tell of his tender mercies toAvards the race
of fallen men, dead in trespasses and sins. If the woman avIio Avashed
the feet of Jesus with her tears received for her much love forgive
ness of her many sins (Luke vii. 47), how much more must human
sinfulness have been washed aAvay by the tears of Jesus himself,
which floAved from the fountain of his tender and unchangeable love.
But Jesus Avept over us that he might weep iii us. His tears of
sorroAv for sinners Avere designed to becorae iu sinners tears of sorroAv
for sin. Thus oMy can his tears blot out their transgressions, and
prepare the mmd for the reception of new life.
36. When they saw Jesus weeping. Then said the Jews, Behold how
he lived him I Much more may we say, behold Iioav he loved man
kind, then sitting in darkness and tbe shadow of death ! But the
Lord's love for Lazarus Avas not for his person. The Lord loves, as
he respects, not the persons of men, but that in them avMcIi is lovable,
by a Bemg who is himself pure love. It is true that, while his love is
infinite and impartial, he is yet said to love some more than others.
He loved John more than the other disciples. He loves those more
who have more of his love m them. This is the only kind of partiality
of Avliich divine love is capable. The Lord loves the good qualities of
men, and the men on account of them. We utter the exclamation of
the Jews, but from a higher view of the subject, Avheii we have some
perception of the nature of the Lord's love, which was manifested in
the redemption of the human race, and which is stiU manifested in the
salvation of aU who come to him that they may have life.
37. Some of the Jews said. Could not this man, which opened the
eyes ofthe blind, have caused that even this man should not have died.
The Lord once said. Whether is easier to say. Thy sins be forgiven thee,
or to say. Arise and walk ? Both are alike easy to Mm who is the be-
stower of natural and spiritual life. He Avho opened the eyes of the
blind could have prevented the death of Lazarus, but it was not the
Lord's purpose to prevent his death, but to restore him to life. Con
sidering Lazarus as a type of humanity, the question of the Jews is
sometimes asked by others : could not the Lord have caused that man
kind should not have died spirUually ? If this coMd have been done,
consistently Avith the nature of God and of man, it would not have been
left undone. The Lord did not interpose to save Lazarus from natural
death ; he had not interposed to prevent man from spirituaUy dying.

2(;S ST. JOHN. [Chap. XL
Human freedom stood in the way of compulsory sinlessness. God
cannot forcibly prevent sin nor secure righteousness. He who be
stowed free-wiU, cannot forcibly oppose it. To do so Avould be to
contradict himself, which is impossible. When sin had entered into
the world, and death by sin, they were permitted to reign tUl the ful
ness of time, when God came into the world to redeem raen from death,
and to provide for their salvation in a way consistent Avith the freedom
he had bestowed upon them as an inalienable gift. Indeed^ redemption
consisted in the restoration of human freedom, wMch the preponder
ance of the poAver of hell over that of heaven, and the power of evil
over that of good, had partially destroyed.
38. After recording what the Jews said on seeing Jesus weep, the evan
gelist proceeds : Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to
the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. The ardency of
the Lord's love thus again expresses itself, AA'hen brought, by the
medium of the humanity, into immediate connection Avith the spiritual
state of man, as represented by the natural condition of Lazarus. As
the grave is the house of the dead, it denotes the mind itself, especially
the natural, sensual, and corporeal degree of the mind, in which every
thing spiritual lies as it were dead and buried, tUl awakened into Ufe
by the Lord's regenerating poAver. In this case, Ave may justly say
that the man himself is dead and buried. Not the sensual but the
rational nature is the man ; and where the rational is immersed in the
sensual, the man is, in the Scripture sense, dead and buried. The
grave m which Lazarus was laid was a cave ; and this expresses obscur
ity of the mind m respect to spiritual things. A cave is frequently
mentioned in the Word, and signifies obscurity of raind in regard to
truth ; as the cave in AA'hich Elijah hid himself Avhen he fled from
Jezebel, representing that the Word itself, which the prophet repre
sented, was hid from the church during the evil reign of Ahab. On
the cave, in which Lazarus Avas laid, was a stone. In a good sense, a
stone is the symbol of truth, such as it is in the letter of the Word, and
therefore also of the appearances of truth, of which the hteral sense for
the most part consists. The dead in a cave, Avitli a stone upon it,
presents a type of one who is in a natural state, and whose understand
ing is obscured and confined by the appearances of truth, the faUacies
of the senses, and the false persuasions draAvn from them.
39. To deliver the soul from death, at least frora that which may be
called intellectual death, the first thing to be done is to remove the
appearances of truth, wMch have given rise to false persuasions, and
have been used to favour the evUs of the wUl and obscure the percep-

Chap. XL] ST. JOHN. 269
tions of the understandmg. Therefore Jesus said. Take away the
stone. But natural affection, or the affection of the natural mind,
offers obstruction to the elivme operation for removing the appearances
of truth ; for to this affection it seems that restoration to life is hopeless,
seemg that the object of its attachment, faith, Avith the good which pro
ceeds from it, has not oMy ceased to live, but has gone to corruption.
Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him. Lord, hy this
time he sfinketh . for he hath been dead four days. The objection to
the removal of tbe stone by Martha, did not, however, arise frora a
negative sphit, but from a conviction that the case of Lazarus was a
hopeless one. Not doubt, but despair, is expressed by the sister of
Lazarus, Avhen she said. By this time he stinketh. SAveet smells cor
respond to perceptions of goodness and truth, and unpleasant smeUs,
to perceptions of evU and falsity. This is the source of sphitual cor
ruption. EvU and falsity do not, hoAvever, produce offensive odours,
or, to use Martha's term, do not stink, to those who are in the love of
them, but to those who are in the affection of goodness and truth, for the
quaUty of evU aud falsity is perceived from their opposites : therefore
tMs remark is made by ]\lartlia, who represents a good affection, and
those Avho possess .it. But although this just remark of Martha's
expresses the truth according to the ordinary laAV, it does not foUoAV
that the body of Lazarus was in the state of decay which her words
express. Lazarus had been dead four days, but his body may not have
seen corruption. The separation of the soM from the body does not
take place generaUy tUl the third day after death ; and it is not unrea
sonable to suppose that in the case of Lazarus this se^jaration had been
prevented, so that, although in the ordinary sense of the term dead, he
Avas really, as our Lord expressed it, in sleep — a sleep, hoAvever, from
Avhich he never could have aAvakened but for the exercise of the
Lord's poAver. This does not lessen but rather increases the magnitude
of the mhacle. It implies tAvo nuracles instead of one — the miracle of
preserving Mm from corruption, and the miracle of raising him again
from the dead. TMs vieAv corresponds better, too, Avith the state of
the Gentiles, and of those who are in the extremity of temptation,
whom Lazarus represented. And here we may say that corru23tion
represents, not the extinction, but the profanation of goodness and
truth; for the greatest corruption and most offensive of all spiiitual
odours arise from the profane mixing of good and evil. Now the
Gentiles, though they were m evil and falsity, were not in profanation ;
for those Avho do not know things holy, cannot profane them. Those
who undergo temptation may indeed profane these holy principles ;

270 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XI.
but profanation in their case is the result of faUing m temptation ;
and those who grievously fall in temptation, are seldom the subjects of
spiritual resurrection. Those who obtain the resurrection, may have
been in that state Avhich was represented in Lazarus being dead four
days ; but they are not in that state of corruption which implies the
complete separation of soul and body — they are dead, but the.y stUl
have within them that which can be recalled to life. There may be
a conjunction of evil and falsity ; but this state may not have been
confirmed, much less may profanation have ensued : the affection,
Avhich is the soul of truth, may still be there ; and divine poAver can
enable it to reanimate the body, and make the soul spiritually live an-ain.
40. To Martha's conviction of corruption, Jesus presented the alter
native of behef as the hope of glory. Said I not unto thee, thut, if
thou, wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God ? But why
should the resurrection of Lazarus be dependent on another's faith ?
This is an interesting question, and it is one that relates, not to the
case of Lazarus only, but to that of others, many of the Lord's cures
havmg been performed tMough the faith, not of the persons cured, but
of their relatiiuis. It teaches us that, spiritually, faith is an act of the
living, not of the dead, and that its saving results reach the dead
through the living. The living principle within us is that tMough
which, by faith in the Lord, his Ufe is communicated to whatever is
dead. The affection is that living principle through whose faith life
can be communicated to our thoughts aud acts. The dead can mdeed
hear the voice of the Son of God, and hearing can live, as the Lord
declared in a previous discourse (chap. v. 25), and as was exemplified
in the case of the son of the widoAV, and in that of Lazarus ; but it is
not that Avhich is dead that hears, but that Avhich retains some decree
of life. Spiritual death is not the extinction of all life; it is the extinc
tion of spiritual love and faith, Avhich constitute spiritual and eternal
Ufe. But hoAvever dead in this respect a soul may be, the facMty of
receiving ucav life remains, and through that faculty new life can be
communicated. This is the faculty to Avhicli the Lord calls ; this is
the door at Avhich he knocks ; and every one is able to hear the call
and obey it ; to hear the knock and open the door.
41, 42. Then took they away fhe stone from the place where the dead
n-us laid. The removal, by the command of Jesus, of the stone where
the dead was laid, is the actual removal of the appearances of truth
Avhich conceal the truth itseU from the mind. When the stone Avas
removed, Jesus lifted up his eyes aud said. Father, I thank thee that
thou hast heard mc. The prayers of the Lord are expressive of the

CH.4P. XL] ST, JOHN, 271
inmost communion of the human nature Avith the Divine, of Avisdom
Avith love in the Lord ; and this union in the Lord is the origin of the
conjunction of charity and faUh in us, through which his power saves
us. But Jesus does not now pray, but gives thanks that his prayer
had been heard. All true prayer, whatever its immediate object, has
for its ultimate end the union of love and wisdom, and all true thanks
giving is for that union effected. The eyes of the Lord, Avhich he
lifted up in giving thanks, are his Divine wisdom, and also Ms omni
science and providence. " The eyes of the Lord are upon us, his ear
is open to our cry." His Avisdom and his avUI are constantiy over us
for our eternal good. In respect to the Lord himself, the eyes of the
Son Avere ever towards the Father, the ear of the Father was ever open
unto the cry of the Son. Divme Avisdom ever sees Divine love.
Divme love ever hears Divine wisdom. Thus is described, in divine
language, the reciprocal union of love and wisdom in the Lord, as the
origin of the poAver of salvation, the raising into life of whatever in us
is dead. Jesus, therefore, continues. And I knew that thou hearest mc
always. Jesus Avas ahvays heard, ou the same ground that he hears
his creatures, because he asked nothing amiss, but asked for things
that Avere agreeable to the divine wUl, or never deshed anything but
Avhat Avas agreeable to the nature of divine love. It appears from our
Lord's Avords that his prayer on this occasion was not so much on his
oAvn account as for the sake of those that stood by, that they might
believe that the Father had sent him. The Lord's prayers must be
designed to be of use, in this respect, to us also ; they teach us that the
Father sent him, that he was divine in Ms origin, and therefore in Ms
nature. He who comes from God is God. Whatever proceeds from
the Divine is divine ; and as the Divine is indivisible, the divinity of
the Son and the divmity of the Father are one. The Father and the
Son are indeed distinct, but only as soul and body, avUI and under
standing ; distinct as essentials, but one in person and in operation.
But there is a spiritual view of this subject. To beheve that the Lord
Avas sent by the Father is to believe that tbe divine Truth that came to
redeem and save mankind proceeded from the divine Goodness, and
was therefore Mled with it and acted from it ; and we truly believe
this Avlien our faith is the faith of truth, grounded in love.
43. 'When he thus had, spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,
come forth. What a voice was that which called Lazarus from the
tomb, a voice at once powerful and prophetic ! Calling the dead to
life is an act not only God-like but Divine. No one can impart Ufe
but him Avho is Life. Others besides Jesus have performed this great

272 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XI.
miracle, but none others by their oavu power. F"'or although Jesus
looked up to the Father as the source of Ms poAver, it was but the
human looking to the divine which Avas one Avith it. But great as this
miracle was, what is callmg the perishable body into life, to calling mto
life the immortal soM ? This is the great truth, of which the miracle
Avas but the outward symbol. Resurrection from the death of sin unto
the life of righteousness is that which the raising of Lazarus repre
sented. This is the peculiar function of Mm who is the Resurrection
txnd the Life. The divine voice is stiU uttered, and those who hear it
still live, and come forth from the hvmg tomb to Avhich theh sins have
consigned them. As all human speech expresses both thought and
affection — thought by the words, affection by the tone ; so does (hAune
speech ; but in divine speech the thought is infmite wisdom, and the
affection is mfinite love. The Avords Avhich Jesus uttered Avere the ex
pression of Ms wisdom, the loud or great voice Avith which he
uttered them was expressive of his love. This is caUed a loud or
great voice, not simply to express the intensity or ardency of the diAine
love wMch is manifested in the salvation of men. but also to indicate
that the voice of Jesus, Avhieh he uttered at the tomb of Lazarus, was
the voice of divine love and wisdom, as manUested m human nature.
By the incarnation the Divine Truth Avas brought down into idtimates,
and Divine Truth iu ultimates is in its fulness and its power.
44. And he that wus dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
grave-clothes ; und his face was bound ubout with u napkin. The
grave-clothes were to Lazarus what the stone was to the sepMchre ;
they enclosed and confined him. What garments are to the body,
truths are to the mind ; they invest it, so as to preserve the warmth of
its love and give it a certain kind of adornment. More specifically,
truths are to good what garments are to the body ; for good is the body
of religion, and truth is the raiment Avliich it puts on. And as truths
are the laAA's of right, garments are the symbols of righteousness, Avhich
is the beautUul garment that serves to invest and adorn the graces of
the mind : and so white linen is the righteousness of saints. But the
garments of the dead are like the truths that cover the body of religion
from which life has departed, and which has the form of godliness
without the power. Considered as a representative of the church,
which Lazarus Avas, the grave-clothes are the appearances of truth and
the ceremonials of religion, which, in the time of the end, take the
place of genuine truths and Avorks of righteousness. These formed
into narroAv creeds and a rigid ecclesiasticism, may serve as a suit
able vesture for the dead, but they are entirely unfit to be a garment

Cuap. XL] ST. JOHN. 273
for the Uving. Brought up from the grave by the power of the
Saviour, the hving church comes forth bound hand and foot, the
powers both of the iuAvard and outAvard man restrained, and the per
ceptive faculty of the mind covered, like the face of Lazarus bound
about with a napkin. Such also is the condition of him Avho is
newly restored to spiritual lUe. The bonds of the world are still
around him, restraining his powers and obstructing his vision. Loose
him, and let Mm go, is therefore the divine command in respect to
every one whom the Lord raises from the dead. First life, then
liberty ; these are gUts bestoAved upon aU who hear his voice, and
come forth unto the resurrection of eternal life. They are not freed
frora aU bonds ; but they exchange the external bonds of the Avoiid
for the internal bonds of hira whose yoke is easy and his burden Ught.
45, 46. The effect of this miracle was, that many of the Jews which
came to Mury, and had seen the things which Jesus did, helieved on
him. Bid some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told
them what things Jesus had done. The unavoidable but beneficial
effect of all divme operations is, that they act in the way of tests and
judgments ; they try the states of men, and separate the good and the
evil, drawing the good into connection with the supreme Good, and
leaving the evU to fall away into the prevaUing evil. The same takes
place when a new church is being raised up iu the world ; some of the
former church believe m the new principles, others become more con-
Mmed iu the old. Like the comforters of Martha and Mary, some can
lament over the dead who cannot rejoice over the living. The truth,
Avhicli is a rock of confidence to some, is a rock of offence to others.
The divine operations serve also to separate good and evil in the minds
of those who are favourably affected by them ; and thus serve to draw
forth the good, and bring it into conjunction with the Lord.
47, 48. Informed, by those who believed not, of this wonderful work
of Jesus, then gcdhered the chief priests and Pharisees a council, and
said. What do we? for this mun doeth many miracles. The fears of
the Sanhedrim seem now to have reached a crisis that required more
than an attempt to entangle hhn in his speech. The raising of
Lazarus was a miracle that might well Ml them with alarm, and lead
them to exclaim. If we lei him thus alone, all men will believe on him;
and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.
The Pharisees were like those of their creed and class in every church
and in every age. The selfish and the formal would fain arrest the pro
gress of goodness and truth, with theh lUe and light. Sphitually, m this
Ave see the opposition which the natural man ever offers to the spiritual.

274 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XI.
when the Lord imparts new life to the soul. Every advance which
the new man makes in the Ufe of heaven excites the old man into
greater hostility. EvU and falsity combine, and take counsel against
goodness and truth, and do so in order to maintam their power, wilUng
rather to be slaves to the ruling authority of the Avorld than to be made
free by the power of truth from heaven.
49-53. And one of them, named Cuiapihas, being the high priest that
same year, said unto them. Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it
is expedient for ws, that one man should die for the people, and that
the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but
being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for
that nation ; and not for that nation only, but that also he shoidd gcxtlier
together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. There
can be no reasonable doubt that John understood tMs remarkable
utterance of the high priest to be an hispired prediction. But how
could one so Avicked possess so great a gift ? In the representative
church of the Jcavs, a profane person could exercise a sacred function,
because it was tbe function and not the man which represented. Besides,
prophesying is a miraculous gift, AA'hich may be bestowed on a person
in virtue of his office, independently of his moral character, as in the
case of Balaam. The prophecy of Caiaphas, as high priest, was the
very truth. He was divinely inspired to predict an event which Avas
divmely appointed. It was expedient that one should die for the
people, and that he should gather together in one the chUdren of God
that were scattered abroad. The Lord delivered the same truth re
specting himself, as the good shepherd, gathering the scattered sheep,
and umting his two flocks into one fold. But the remarkable circum
stance connected with the prophecy of the high priest is, that it should
have been uttered at a meeting of the Sanhedrim, caUed for the pur
pose of devising some plan for arresting the progress of the Lord's
cause. Were it not for other testimony to the contrary, Ave might
suppose that Caiaphas wished to restrain rather than excite the Avrath
of the councU against Jesus. It is evident that his object was to in
duce them no longer to trifle with the groAving evil, but to arrest it
at once, by the destruction of its author. It had the desired effect.
It led them to the determination to effect the fulMment of what may
be regarded as their own prediction. Then, from that day forth, they
took counsel, together to put him to death. Their understanding of the
prophecy, compared with its true meaning, affords a striking illustration
of the difference between the letter Avhich killeth and the spirit which
giveth life. They understood the people of the prophecy to be the

Chap, XL] ST, JOHN. 275
Jews, and the scattered abroad to be the dispersed of Israel. Hoav
they expected their putting Jesus to death avouM secure the fMfilment
of the prediction, and of the latter part in particular, is not very ap
parent. But they certainly did become the instruments of fulfilling
the prophecy in its true sense. Their purpose Avas defeated by the
success of theh own plans. Thus the Lord, in his overruling provi
dence, makes even the wrath of man to praise him, by turning the evil
Avhich the wicked intend into good. Eminently Avas this the case with
the evil Avhich the whole powers of wickedness directed against the
Lord. Theh power had a limit, beyond Avhich it could not extend,
and a resMt Avhich they could not contemplate. They were only able
to kill the body ; and when they bad done this, there was no more
that they could do. They performed the vile use of exciting, by their
temptations, the hereditary evils of our nature, which Jesus bare in
Ms OAVU body to the tree (1 Pet. h. 24) ; but here their use ended.
The heathen raged, the people Avere tumultuous ; the kings of the earth
set themselves, and the rulers took counsel together, against the Lord
and against his anointed. When they had compassed his death, and
had seen him laid in the tomb, Avhere the earth with her bars Avas
about him (Jonah ii. 6), they triumphed in their own success. But
"the triumphmg of the Avicked is short." On the morning of the
resurrection, when he loosed the pains of death, because it was not
possible that he should be holden of it (Acts ii. 24), and burst the
gates of the sepulchre, he became the conqueror. He not only brake
the bands of his enemies asunder and cast their cords frora him ; but
he reduced them to subjection, and set bounds to theh aggressive poAver
against the kingdom of righteousness, Avhioh he had uoav establishetl
for ever.
54. In consequence of the conduct of the Pharisees aud chief priests,
and theh efforts to stir up enmity against him among the people,
Jesus walked no more openly among the .Jews, but went thence
unto a, country near to the wilderness, into a city ccdled Ephraim, und
there continued with his disciples. For the third time in this gospel
Ave are told that Jesus retired on account of the opposition of the Jcavs.
In the two previous cases he left Judea and went into Galilee ; in the
present instance, he retires to the town of Ephraim, in or near the
wilderness of Judea. According to the literal sense, he retires for
safety, although he possessed the power to resist or disarm all opposi
tion. Spiritually, the Lord walks no raore openly where he is openly
assaUed, but withdraws into some remote or secret part of the mind,
that Ms divine truth may be preserved from violence, and the soul

276 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XI
saved from destruction. The country Avhere he retired was near
the wUderness of Judea, a type of the desolate state of the church, but
also expressive of a state of obscurity 'and temptation. Ephraim, the
city into Avhich he went, signifies the intellectual principle of the
church, or the intellect as the receptacle of the truths of the church.
EpMaim aud Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph, and represented
the new understanding and the new will, or the inteUectual and volun
tary principles of the sphitual church, which Joseph represented. The
city of Ephraim was a symbol of the doctrinal form of the principle
AvMch Avas typified by Ephraim himself. Jesus there continued with
Ms disciples, to represent that the Lord's presence is preserved in
the truths of his Word, in the interior of the intellectual prmciple,
when he can no longer continue in the corrupt will, where his love is
changed into hatred.
55-57. The Jews' pussover was nigh cd hand. This passover was
the last Avhich our Lord celebrated, and signified Ms glorification, the
redemption of mankind, and the establishment of his church. This
Avas the passover at which the Holy Supper was mstituted, when the
Lord entered into an eA'erlasting covenant with the church, Avhich his
disciples represented, and in connection Avith which the redemption of
the world and the glorification of his humanity Avere accomplished.
The completion of his great work now drcAv nigh : it was certam as
well as near at hand. Everything was preparing, both on the good
and the evU side, for the great event. Many went out of the country
up to Jerusalem before the pussover to purify themxctves. Then sought
they for Jesus, und spcdce umong themselves, as they stood in the tempile,
Whcd think ye, thcd he will not come to the feast ? Now both the chief
priesfs and the Pharisees hud given a commandment, thut, if any man
knew where he were, he should shew it that they might take Mm. That
purification, though ceremonial, represented the spiritual purification
Avhioh the penitent seek, and who seek it from good by truth ; for to
go out of the country up to Jerusalem is to proceed from a state of good
to a state of truth ; and all purification is effected bj' tmth, but only in
those whose desire for it proceeds from a principle of good. Trans
ferring this subject to our own minds, we here see Avhat Ave too often
feel, that Avhen Ave Avould do good, evil is present with us. The Phari
saic princip>les either without or Avithin us take occasion of the holiest
times for the unholiest purposes. The very sphere of holiness excites
their enmity and opposition. Among the multitude there were bands
who doubted among themselves the Lord's appearmg at the feast, and
who discussed the question of his coming. Thus there are some who

Chap. XIL] ST. JOILX. 277
inquire about the Lord as Truth, and who, as the terms of the question
imply, believe that he Avill come. Many of these, as appears from the
next chapter (v. 12), Avere Avaiting for him as the Saviour, and for his
salvation. And thus Avere the people divided, as the mind itseU is,
Avhen the state is not yet full. But AvMle the people questioned
among themselves, some of them at least from proper motives, Avhether
.Jesus Avould come to the feast, the chief priests and Pharisees had given
a commandment, that any Avho knew Avhere he Avas should shcAv it,
that they raight take him. This Avas the mind of the ruling men in
the church respecting the Holy One. Their purpose Avas accomplished,
though not by the means they intended. Bt.it hoAV should Ave be
humbled by the reflection, that ca-U rulers present but too faithful an
image of the enmity of the human heart and of the human race, AA'hich
the Lord suffered to remove. While Ave Avere yet enemies Christ died
for us. The treatment which Jesus received at the hands of those
whom he came to seek and to save, is a standing evidence, a perpetual
memorial, of the degradation from Avhich the Lord, in his infinite loviiig-
kmdness, came to deliver those whom he had created in his image, but
who had so sinfidly departed from the integrity of theh original con-
lition.

CHAPTER XII.
The resurrection of Lazarus representing the raismg up of a church
among the GentUes, the beautiful narrative with which this chapter com
mences represents the Lord's entering into a covenant of life with his
church. IndividuaUy, it represents the reciprocal conjunction of the
Lord and man after regeneration, Avhich is spiritual resurrection, by
the appropriation of good, which is represented by a supper.
1. Then Jesus, six duys before the passover, came to Bethany, where
Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. As
this was the passover in connection with Avhich the Lord Avas crucified,
these six days represent states of trial, ending in his last temptation,
the passion of the cross, foUowed by his resurrection, Avhich Avas his
entrance into rest — rest from the labour of his combat with the powers
of darkness — rest which was eminently represented by the Sabbath
which foUows the six days of labour ; for the Lord's state of glorifica
tion is Rest itself, and the origin of spiritual rest to man. But every
state of tribulation has rest for its beginning as weU as for its end.

278 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
The state itself implies this. We would not know tribulation but for
the rest AAdiich precedes it, nor would we knoAv rest but for tribulation
Avhich has gone before it. In this resjiect spiritual is like natural life.
LUe begins with the peace of infancy, and ends Avith the p)eace of old
age ; between them there is a state of labour and trial, Avhich changes
the peace of slumbering, into the peace of conquered passions. But
tribulation itseU has its intervals of repose, Uke the resting-places of
Israel in the desert, to give us a foretaste of the promised rest, and to
refresh us in our laborious journey, of which it is to be the happy ter
mination and exceeding great revA'ard. There are some intUcations of
this in the life of the Lord himself, Avho in all things Avas our great
example. In the bosom of the loving famUy of Bethany, Jesus seems,
liumaMy speaking, to haA'e found occasionally a peaceful retreat from
the persecuting hatred of Ms JeAvish enemies. He had blessed and
brightened the home of Martha and Mary, by restoring to them their
beloved brother, who had been dead and was now alive again. Here,
¦during an mterval of rest, did the Lord representatively bmd to himself
the church, AA'hich Avas to be raised up among the GentUes through
the power of his oaa'u resurrection. And here did he, m bemg a
guest in the house of Martha and Mary, give an expressive symbol of
his presence in the mind where love reigns, and has been rendered
more loving by the restoration to it and union with it of a true and
living faith.
2. There they made him a supper: and Murtha served: but
Lazrxrus was one of them that sat at the fable with him. The supper
made for Jesus may be considered to have some analogy to the sacrifi
cial feast of the Israelitish church. These Avere regarded in the light
of food partly offered to God, and partly consumed by man. The
offermg was considered as an outAvard expression of an iuAvard feeling,
either of contrition or of thanksgiving, and Avas nothing without it. The
various offerings Avere representatives of human affections, devoted to
God, the acceptance of Avhich brings the AvorshipiDer into a spiritual and
¦saving relation Avith the Object of his love and Avorship. And as all
our offerings to God are but the return to Him of the gifts He has
bestoAved upon us, our feasts and sacrifices become the means of coii-
. junction with Him ; they are covenants betAveen God and our oavu
souls. When Ave take an interior vieAv of the subject of the present
narrative, Ave must regard the Lord as the guest of those Avho are
members of the household of faith. Every humble mind is a house
where the Lord may be entertained as a guest ; for he Avho dAvells iu
the high and holy place does not disdain to dAvell Avith him also that

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 279
is of a contrite and humble spirit (Is. IvU. 15). He is present Avitli
such a one in his glorified humanity, as he AA'as with Lazarus and his
sisters in Ms yet frail human nature. He dAvells in our hearts by his
love, and in our understandings by his wisdom. It is here, in our
humbled and purified minds, that the Lord sups Avith us and we with
him. There are various feasts at which the Lord may be present, but
they all resolve thomseh'es into this. For Avhether aa'c offer him the
homage of our love and faith, in the services of the church, or in the
business of the world, there is no real offermg but that of the heart and
life. The evangelist is particular in stating that Martha served, but that
Lazarus AA'as one of them that sat at the table Avith him. ilartha, we have
seeu, is the natural affection, or love, of goodness and truth, by which we
mean love that is spiritual in its essence, but natural in its form and mani
festation — spiritual love iu the natural mind. The proper function of
tMs love is to serve. In serving the spiritual love, and through it
the divine love, natural love is in its true place and in the performance
of its right use. The recorded chcumstance that Martha served, is
therefore expressive of a state of spiritual order existing in the mind,
in which the Lord can be present Avith his love and truth. WhUe
Martha serves, she utters no complaint at serving alone, nor asks
the Lord to bid Mary that she help her, as she had done on a pre
vious occasion (Luke x. 40). This noAV wiUiug acquiescence in the
condition assigned her, and joyful performance of its duties, are ex
pressive of the voluntary submission of natural to spiritual love, and
through it to the divine love itself While ilartha served, Lazarus
was one of them that sat at meat with Jesus, for AA'hom the supper
was made. Thus, at the same table sat Jesus, the Resurrection, and
Lazarus, avIxoui he had raised from the dead, the Giver and the re
ceiver of life. Lazarus being one of those who sat at meat is expressive
of the circumstance, that faith, which had died out of the mind, as a
natural prmciple, was uoav restored to it as a spiritual principle, and
brought into communion Avith the Lord, and into conjunction with
the spiritual aud natural affections from Avhich it had been separated.
In this smgular and blessed meeting we may see au image aud a
foretaste of the state described and promise given by the Lord him
self " Behold, I stand at the door and knock : U any man hear my
voice and open the door, I wUl come into him ; and Avill sup Avith
him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
Avith me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down Avith my
Father iu his throne" (Rev. iii. 20). Lazarus had overcome death itself
He had been caUed up from the dead by the voice of Jesus ; but so is

280 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
every chUd of the resurrection. Divine poAver is the only poAver
that can raise us from death uuto life ; nevertheless, we are not
passive during the work of resurrection. We must hear the Lord's
voice, and we must obey it. And that which AA'as the act of a
moment in the case of Lazarus, is the work of a lifetime with the
regenerate. 3. The principal incident, for the sake of which the others are intro
duced, is that Avhich comes now to be noticed. Then took Mary a
pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of
Jesus, und wiped his feet with her hair : and the house was filled loith
the odour of the ointment. In this beautiful act Mary expressed her
gratitude for her brother's restoration to temporal life. What must be
the gratitude which one feels for the restoration of a soul to spiritual
lUe ; and what the joy of angels over one sinner that repenteth ! This
bemg the restoration represented by the resurrection of Lazarus, we are
to consider Mary's act as having the same representatiA'e character.
And having to consider the resurrection of Lazarus as representing the
resurrection to life of the spiritual principle of faith iu ourselves, we
have to regard Mary's offering as one arising out of the new life, be
stowed by Mm Avho is the life itseU. We have aheady seen that
Mary is a type of spiritual love, the sister to the natural loA'e repre
sented by Martha, Lazarus representing the inteUectual principle of
the church, raised up to a perception of the Lord's truth, and to the
reception of a living faith, of which he is the Author and the Object.
Thus restored, the mind, from its inmost affection, pours out its offer
ing of love and gratitude to the Lord, as the meroUul giver of eternal
Ufe. This offermg is the ointment which Mary poured upon the
feet of Jesus. Omtment is emblematical of love. TMs offermg
is precious, and therefore costly. It is precious, because Ioa'c is the
most exceUent of all graces, and costly, because it cannot be pur
chased but at the expense of all that Ave have. Little is said m the
'V\'"ord respecting the particular ointment used by Mary, nothing that
can lead us to a better knoAvledge of its quality than its costliness aud
its fragrance. With this ointment Mary anointed the feet of Jesus.
According to Matthew (xxvi. 7) and Mark (xiv. 3), Mary anointed his
head. It is reasonably conjectured that Mary anointed both the head
and the feet of .lesus ; and many thhik that the evangelists recorded
the circumstance as they observed it, or as it impressed them. Be
lieving that they Avrote from divme inspiration, the difference is not
the result of human but of divme choice, for the purpose of teacMng
the same truth as seen by persons in different states of perception.

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 281
The gosiiels describe events Avith reference to the diff'erent and ad
vancing states of the Lord's glorification, and of man's regeneration.
lu the progress of both these Avorks, the internal is first made neAv and
the external afterAvards, according to the Lord's Avords, " Cleanse first
that which is Avithm, that the outside may be clean also" (Matt,
xxiii. 26). In agreement Avith this, the first tAvo gospels record
the anointing of the Lord's head, aud the last the anointing of
his feet, Avhich describes the glorification, first of the internal, and
afterAvards of the external, of his humanity. And we shall see that
the Lord regarded this anointing as having reference to his glorifi
cation, since Mary, he said, had done it to his burying. There is a
pecuUar significance in Mary anointing i'he feet of the Lord, as may be
learned from what the Lord himself said when he washed Ms disciples
feet, " he that is Avashed needeth not save to Avash his feet, but is clean
every wMt." When the internal has been purified, nothing remains
but to purify the external, and then the regenerate person is AvhoUy
clean. John describes the anointing of the Lord's feet, because his
gospel has more especial relation to the Lord's glorification as a com
pleted work, and because the Lord's final aud complete glorification
was, as he himself said, iioav at hand. The Lord's head had already
been anointed. His humanity had already been glorified internaUj' ;
its glorification to the very ultimate degree Avas about to be completed
by the passion of the cross ; and this, as seen by the more fMly regene
rate, was now foreshadoAved by Mary anointing his feet Avitli the
precious omtment. It is well knoAvn that the Christ and Messiah
mean anointed. The Lord was the anointed of Jehovah. The holy
oU with which he was anointed was the divme love. But the Lord
was not only the anointed of Jehovah, he was also the auohited of the
church ; and tMs anointing was represented by that of Mary. By re-
cei-ving the divine love, Jesus became one Avith Jehovah ; by receiving
human love, he becomes one with the church. Aud Avhen we speak of
the church, we speak of one as weU as of many. Where love and faith
are, there is the church. When Mary anointed the feet of Jesus, if
her precious ointment was a true expression ofthe precious grace of love
dwelling in and coming from her heart, hers Avas an actual as well as a
representative anointing of the Lord Avith love, and an actual union
Avith Mm by love. — After anointing the feet of Jesus with the precious
omtment, Mary wiped them Avith her hair. Much is said in Scripture
respecting the human hair. The most striking instances of its evidently
symbolical character are those of the Nazarites, and of the Lord himself,
whom the Nazarites represented. As a Nazaiite, Samson's superhuman

282 ST. JOHN, [Chap, XIL
strength was in Ms hair, which can only be understood m any consis
tently religious sense, when that judge of Israel is considered to be a
type of the Lord as the Redeemer. The hair of Samson Avas a symbol
of the natural humanity Avhioh the Lord assumed, as the medium by
AvMch his divme poAver was brought doAvn into the natural Avoiid, for
the deliverance of mankind. This raay be expressed in another form.
The Lord came into the Avorld as the Word, or divine Truth itself ;
but m order to redeem man, he who from eternity had been the Word
or divine Truth in first principles, became the Word or divine Truth
iu ultimates ; for in ultimates divine Truth is in its fulness and its
poAver. Divine Truth in ultimates, as assumed by the Lord m the
Avorld for the purpose of redeeming mankind, was typified by the hair
of the Nazarites, especially by that of Samson. It is in consequence of
this sacred meaning of the hair, that when the person of tbe Lord was
represented to John in Patmos, his head and his hair were Avhite like
w-ool, as white as siioAv. Such being the meaning of the hair in refer
ence to the Lord, it has a similar signification in regard to man. Of
the numerous instances in Avhich it is spoken of, there is one singularly
apt iu relation to the present subject. The strange compound creature
Avhich Jolm saAV ascend out of the bottomless pit, and Avhich Avas the
emblem of a religious principle that unites the most destructive qualities
Avith the fairest appearances, is described as having the taU of a scorpion
and the teeth of a lion, with the face of a man and the hair of a woman
(Rev. ix.). The teeth of the lion and the tail of the scorpion were
ready to destroy those Avho might be seduced by the appearance of the
intelligence of a man and the affection of a woman. Hoav difl'erent the
purpose and the use of Mary's hair ! She Aviped Avitli her hair the feet
of her Saviour, which she had bathed with the precious ointment of
her purest and tenderest love. As the Lord's hair is his Avisdom in
ultimates, Mary's hair is her love in ultimates — love m its piower and
in its beauty and glory. And as true love is never Avithout its wisdom,
this also is included in the meaning of her hair. The evangelist con
cludes his account of the anointing by saying, " that the house Avas
fiUed Avith the odour of the ointment." The oil used among the Jews
for anointing Avas generally mixed Avith aromatics, aud this was re
quired in many cases by the laAv of Moses. Oil being emblematical of
loA'e, the aromatics Avhich Avere mixed Avitli it to give it a gratefM
odour, meant the Avisdom which, combined Avitli love, makes love de
lightful, the odour itself being expressive of the perception of loA'e by
wisdom. The perception of good by the Avill and the perception of
truth by the understandmg. are as odours Avhich affect the sense of

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 283
smell and colours which affect the sense of sight ; hence the combined
influence upon us of the varied fragrance and endless hues of the flowers
of tiie field. So abundant as Avell as rich Avere tiie aromatics iu :Slary's
ointment, that Avhen she poured it upon the feet of Jesus, the Avhole
house AA-as Mled with its odour. The whole mind is filled Avith the
odour of love, Avhen it comes from a pure heart, and is enriched Avith a
gratefM sense of the Divine mercy and goodness in restoring the soul.
4-6. When Mary had anointed the feet of Jesus Avith her pre
cious ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's
sun, which should betray him. Why was not this ointment sold for three
hundred pence, and given to the poor ? This he said, not ilicd he cared.
for the poor, hut because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what
was 2"d therein. The character of Judas, as it here manifests itself,
presents a remarkable contrast to that of jNlary. Not only does Judas
remain uimioved by the mingled love and humility of ^lary, which
her precious ointment and loosened tresses but poorly express, but he
sees nothing in her offering but Avasteful extravagance. His complaint
shoAvs hoAV mean are the ideas of degraded minds on the purest and
Avorthiest acts of dcA'oted affection. Judas, as a mau, seems designed
to exhibit that state of mind Avhich regards everything as wasted Avhicli
cannot be turned into the channel of self-interest. He seems a personifi
cation of avarice, Avhich is the root of all cAil. But he is designed to hold
up to our vieAV the image of something more appalling than even this.
He is the tj'pe of the lowest and grossest part of our fallen nature, that
corporeal principle AA'hich forms the deepest ground of our selfhood,
and Avhich ever opposes itself to the higher ends and activities of the
renewed hiner man, and Avhose opposition is the more obstinate the
Mgher and purer the internal affection. The tAvofold nature of this
part of man's degraded selfhood is indicated in the tAvo names, Judas
Iscariot, AA'hich are expressive of its quality, as being evil and false.
When it is added that it was he avIio should betray the Lord, Ave are
instructed further that it is the loAvest principle of human nature Avhich
is the means of delivering the Lord into the hands of his enemies.
Judas is also called one of his disciples. The twelve represented aU
the principles of human nature, as well as all the principles of the
church, but Judas represented one of those puinciples j^crverted. A
Uttle chUd is corporeal in all his apprehensions of truth, but his inno
cence gives him a certain faith in it and affection for it. But when,
instead of innocence, there is guilt, aud when besides guilt there is
guUe, these two produce a character Avliich is described as that of the
traitor. But in censuring the Avaste Judas seems as if he Avore actuated

284 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XII.
by motives of charity. He asks why the ointment was not sold for
three hundred pence and given to the poor. Money is symbolical of
knowledge. Money is not Avealth, and knowledge is not Avisdoni, but
its representative and means of obtaining it. To haA'e sold the oint
ment, even for three hundred Roman pence, woMd have been to
exchange wisdom, and even goodness, for knoAA'ledge. To give to the
poor was indeed m itself a good work, and it appears that the contents
of the bag which Judas bare were often employed in ministering to the
necessities of the indigent. But we learn that in making this proposal
Judas had no more affection for the poor than he had for his blaster.
" This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he avbs a
thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein." Spiritual theft
consists in claiming to self Avhat belongs to the Lord. TMs was
eminently represented by the theft of Judas. Aud this theft of Judas
Avas aggravated by his hyprocrisy. He deshed to deprive the Lord of
what Avas due to him, but he did it under the pretence of concern for
the poor. He had no regard for either, but oMy for Ms oavu aggran
dizement. And such is the sphitual character which Judas represented.
The spiritual Judas is one Avho uses religion as a means for his own
aggrandizement, aU that he possesses of it or cares for are its kiioAvledges,
wMch he carries in his memory, as Judas carried Ms Lord's money
in the bag, and uses it, like a thief, for selfish mterest and his own
glory, instead of his Master's. It has often been remarked as some
thing surprising, that Judas, Avhom Ms Lord kncAv to be (Ushonest,
shoMd have been entrusted with the bag. Does the circumstance not
shoAV that there was a spiiitual reason for it, he being one of the twelve
who AA-as entrusted Avith it ?
7. Even supposing Judas had been sincere in his plea for seUing
the ointment, the Lord did not admit the propriety or justice of his
remark. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the duy of my bury
ing hath she kept this. The Lord's burying spihituaUy means his glori
fication, for when the maternal humanity was buried, and thus entirely
put off, the Paternal humanity Avas fuUy put on, and became the Lord's
resurrection body. The Lord's glorification Avas his complete anomt-
ing. The Divine love had been poured out upion him from his being
conceived in the Avomb, but he Avas anointed in fulness Avlieii the
humanity became the Divine Love itself, in form as Avell as in essence.
The present anointing was, as Ave have said, performed bv' a human
agent. But Mary representing the church, her anointing the body of
Jesus is expressive of the church acknowledging tbe diA'inity of the
Lord's humanity ; doing frora Avithout Avhat the Father Avas doing from

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 285
within, and thus reciprocating the iuAvard divine operation ; recognis
ing the Divine Humanity as the Medium between God and man, and
through it attaming conjunction Avith the Lord as the Supreme Good,
Divine Lcive and Wisdom.
8. The Lord justifies Mary's act on another ground. The poor al
ways ye huve with you: but me ye have not always. Who are spirit
ually meant by the poor ? As spiritual riches are the knowledges of
goodness and tmth, those who possess little of these are the spiritually
poor. As aU are born, and many grow up, iu ignorance of the truth,
the disciples of Christ have these poor ahvays with them, aud when
the,y AviU they can do them good. But there are poor which we have
still nearer to us and more constantly Avith us than these. Our '
faculties, so far as they are deficient in the knoAvledge or possession of
spiritual things, are poor ; and these we have always with us, and
when Ave avUI we can do them good by ministering to their wants.
And then there are, in spiritual as in temporal wealth, the poor rich
as well as the rich poor. The rich poor are those of Avhom it is said,
" I know thy works, and thy tribulation, and proverty, but thou art
rich" (Rev. ii. 9). The poor rich are those Avho are rich in re
Ugious knowledge, but poor iu religious virtue, who think themselves
rich and increased Avith goods, and have need of nothing, and know
not that they are poor, and miserable, and blind and naked (Rev. iii.
17). All of us are more or less in all these conditions of poverty,
and raay ahvays do something to mitigate or remove thein. Bntnoneof
us have the Lord thus constantly with us. In declaring this, he
aUuded more especially to Ms departure from his disciples by death,
when they Avould have sorrow, a state Avhich is incident to all Chris
tian (hsciples, who, as children of the bride-chamber, mourn when the
bridegroom is taken away. True, he departs but to return as the
Comforter, but these states of trial show, that him we have not ab
Avaj s ; and that it is the more deshable and dutifM, so long as he is
with us, to give him the costly offering of our best affections, that our
souls may be brought into such internal conjunction with him, as may
preserve us faithful to the day of his coming.
9. We read in the previous chapter (v. 19) that many of the Jews
carae to comfort Martha and Mary concerning their brother, and that
many of them became behevers iu Jesus through his miracle of raising
Lazarus from the dead, some, however, informed the Pharisees of
what Jesus had done (4G). Here again, we find. Much people of the
Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they cume not for Jesus'
suke only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised

286 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XII.
from the dead. The people of the Jews are those, who from a good
disposition, desire to knoAv the truth, not only respecting the Lord
himself as the Author of spiritual life, but respecting the life which
he imparts to those who have been spiritually dead. To see one who
has been raised from death unto life must have been even a wonder in
deed. Yet of every converted sinner may it be truly said, that he has
been raised from the dead. Could we see the soul as we see the
body, hoAv striking and instructive would it be to behold it in these two
states of death and life. We may, however, see tMs reahzed in our
selves, if we have been the subjects of the saving operation, which
that of Jesus upon Lazarus represented.
10, 11. But here again we have the repetition of a circumstance
Avhich so often occurs in the previous history of the Lord's life. EvU
rises up to oppose the good. But the chief priests consulted that they
might also put Lazarus to death : because that by reason of him many
of the Jews went away, and helieved on Jesus. They who had endea
voured to destroy Jesus as the truth and the life, now take counsel to
kiU Lazarus, on Avhora the gift of life had been bestowed. When evU
men cannot destroy the principles that are opposed to their OAvn, they
often endeavour to do it indirectly, by assailing them in their practical
results, either by denying them, Avhich is spiritually to kiU, or by per
verting them, by imputing them to an evil origin, which the Jews did
when they accused the Lord of casting out devils by the prince of the
devUs. Those, on the contrary, who are well disposed judge favour
ably of truth from its good results, for good leads to the acknoAvledg
ment of truth, and thence of its Author, as many of the Jews believed
on Jesus because of Lazarus. The offence of these in the eyes of the
priests was that they went away and believed on Jesus ; they were
alienated from the priestly rule to which they had submitted, and were
brought under the dominion of the Son of man ; they had forsaken
error for truth, and evil for good.
12, 13. The fame of the miracle of raising Lazarus overbore, for the
time, the influence of the priests; for on the next day much people
that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, took branches of palm-trees, and went forth to meet him, and
cried, Ilosanna : Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name
of the Lord. The Lord's entry into Jerusalem is recorded in all the
four gospels, though in each with some difference. John relates that
it took place the next day after the supper iu the house of Lazarus.
A neAV state, but one following and connected Avith the former, is de
scribed. The Lord's own death and resurrection were now about to

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 28-1
follow those of Lazarus ; and a feast more holy than that at Avliich
Jesus sat with Lazarus, Avas about to be provided for the faithful, Avho
Avere to be fed Avith the flesh aud blood of the Son of man. The feast
of the passover was to be celebrated in Jemsalem, and thither the Lord
Avas UOAV on his Avay to finish his course and complete his grand design.
His entry into .Jerusalem symbolized his entry into the church, not the
church as it then existed among the Jews, but as described by the pro
phet hi the prediction which uoav received its literal fulfilment. This
Avas the church which our Lord himself established, the true Zion, of
Avhicli that iu Jerusalem had never been more than the type. The
much people who Avent forth to meet him were the representatives,
rather than the real members, of that church by Avhich the Lord is re
ceived as the king of Israel, and which acknowledges him in his divine
humanity,. and submits to the spiiitual government of his divine truth.
The branches of palm-trees, which the people took, were emblems of
the sphitual truths themselves, by the love and perception of which
the spiritual church is distinguished. The palm-tree itself is emble
matical of the good of spiritual truth ; and as the love of good and
truth is the source of joy and delight, this Avas expressed by the re
joicings of the people and by the hosannas Avhich they sung. The
hosanna with which the multitude saluted Jesus, is expressive of the
acknowledgment of the Lord by faith, jubUant on his entry into the
church, which, in relation to its individual members, is Ms entrance
into theh hearts and understandings, from which all true acknowledg
ment and joy spring. The people cried, " Blessed be the king of Israel
that cometh in the name of the Lord." The king of Israel is the Lonl
as divme truth, and divine truth proceeds from divme love, which is
meant by Jesus commg in the name of the Lord. The people Avho
thus saluted the Lord knew not indeed the full import of the words
they uttered. They were but repeating words Avhich they were accus
tomed to smg when they celebrated the feast of tabernacles, Avhen they
carried palms and sung from holy writ, " Save now, I beseech thee, O
Lord : 0 Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he
that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Psalm cxviu. 25). Hosanna
is the first word in this portion of the Psalm, and is expressive of the
Lord's salvation.
14, 15. The manner in which the Lord made his entry into Jeru
salem had been the subject of a divine prediction. And Jesus, when
he had found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written, Fear not,
daughter of Sion : behold, thy King cometh, sitting un an ass's colt.
The Lord's entry into Jerusalem is generally considered to hidioate

288 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
humUity ; but it is rather expressiA'e of regal authority, for kings were ac
customed to ride upon asses. But there was a deeper reason than even
this for the Lord makiug his entry into Jemsalem in the manner pre
dicted and described. In riding upon a young ass the Lord intended
to express symbohcally, that he had now brought all the principles of
his natural humanity into subordination to Ms divine love and wisdom,
and that those mfeiior principles were henceforth to become the means
by which he should convey the power of his salvation to the rainds and
hearts of men, and thus to his church particular and universal.
16. These things understood not his disciples at the first : but when
Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written
of him, and that they had done these things unto Mm. The singular
circumstance of the disciples being ignorant of the significant character
of the things that were done by them, and that happened to Jesus,
shows how little they kncAV of his true character and work. But this
state represented one that is common to aU true disciples. Not till
he is glorified in them can the disciples of any time see the true
meanmg of the things that have been spoken of him, and which they
themselves have done unto him. It is not necessary, nor is it possible,
that we should see at the time the meaning and the reason of every re
ligious act we do. Obedience must spring from duty first, and from rea
son afterwards. And Avhat is recorded of the disciples may teach us
some useful lesson respecting our children. It is most important that
the young should be early instructed in the simple truths of religion,
and initiated into habits of virtue and piety. That chUdren imderstaml
little of many things they learn and are requhed to do, is no good reason
for leaving them uninstructed and untrained in religion. Like the dis
ciples, they may not understand these things at the Mst, but when
Jesus is glorified in their more matured inteUects and purified hearts,
then AviU they remember that these things Avere Avritten of him, and
that they had done these things uuto him.
17, 18. John states, Avhat the other evangelists have passed over in
sUence, that fhe peop/le therefore that was with him when he called
Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him fi-om the dead, bare record.
For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had
done this miracle. It Avas the miracle of raising the dead that obtamed
for. Jesus this attention and homage of the multitude. The people
consisted of tvvo classes, those who saAv the miracle aud those Avho
heard of it. Those see the Lord's miracle Avho perceive it intellectuaUy ;
those hear of it avIio perceive it moraUy, sight being predicated of the
understanding and hearing of the avUI. Therefore, those Avho saAv the

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 289
miracle bare record, and those Avho heard of it came to meet Jesus.
It is the mteUectual faculty that bears record of the Saviour's Avork, it
is the moral faculty that runs to meet him, as the Author of eternal
life. Considered in reference to one person, these are tAvo acts of the
mind, and baA-e a connection Avitli each other. It does not foUoAv that
those AA'ho actually Avitnessed the resurrection of Lazarus Avere not
morally as well as intellectually convinced ; it is only Avhen spiritually
considered, that it is to be regarded as pointing out a distinction Avhich
is seeu aud realized m our individual experience — that our understanding
bears record of the Lord's Avorks, and that our avUI is brought to the
practical acknoAvledgment of them by means of its testimony.
19. TMs enthusiasm of the people hi favour of Jesus Avas a cause of
mortification to their religious leaders. The Pharisees therefore said
among themselves. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the
world is gone after him. There is in this expjression a consciousness
that their effort to restrain the popular movement Avas unavailing, and
that there Avas no Avay of arresting the progress of the innovation but
by destroying the Innovator. The feeling and conviction expressed
by the Pharisees are like those Avliich sometimes force themselves on
the natural man, of the useless and unavailing nature of his efforts to
oppose the progress of the cause of right, to Avhich he is averse, and
AA'Mch he almost confesses to himself is true and good. "The world
is gone after Mm " must be the regretful admission of those who strive,
especiaUy Avhen by dishonourable means and for selfish ends, to stem
the tide of true human progress. In this instance the Pharisees uttered
a truth that had even then begun to Avork, and Avhich Avill be eventu
ally realized to its fullest extent. The realization of this in the
world at large AviU be hastened by those who espouse the cause of Jesus,
alloAving their natural affections and thoughts to go after him, by
foUoAving his teachmg and example.
20, 21. Besides the Jcavs Avho foUowed the Lord m his progress to
aud entry into Jerusalem, there were certain Greeks among them that
cume up to worship ut the feust : the same came therefore to Philip,
which was of Bethsuida of Gcdilee, and desired Mm, saying. Sir, we
would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew : and again An
drew and Philip tell Jesus. The Greeks were GentUes; but the
isles of Greece were among the most eminent of those of Avliich it is
said, " The isles shall wait for my laAV " (Isa. xhi. 4) ; " the isles shall
wait upon me, and on mine arm shaU they trust " (h. 5) ; and because
the Greeks were amongst the most emment of the Gentiles, the new
revelation was given to John in Patmos, which was one of the isles of
T

290 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
the Grecia.n Archipelagi) ; thus signifying that the things relating to the
end of the church, and its restoration in a new and more glorious state,
shall be given to those Avho wait for the Lord and his kingdom. The
Greeks, though Gentiles, were among them that came to AvorsMp at
the feast. They do not como directly to the Lord, but seek access to him
through one of his disciples ; for those Avho are hi a Gentile state come
to the Lord through those who belong to the church ; or what is the
same, those Avlio are in Gentile goodness, must acquire the truth of the
church, as the means of communion Avith the Lord. The disciple
whose good offices they desired is Philip. From aU that is recorded of
PhiUp m the gospel, it Avould appear that he represented those Avho
IvUOAV Jesus aud desire to kiiOAv him better. Philip is here said to be
of Bethsaida, Avhich, in the first chapter, is said to be the city of
Andrew and Peter. PhUip Avas also called to the apostleship soon
after Peter. He it wixs avIio said to Nathanael, We have found him
of Avhom Moses in the laAv and the prophets did write, Jesus of
Nazaieth ; and who, when Nathanael demanded of him if any good
thing could come out of Nazareth, ansAvered by saying. Come and
see. Indeed, all that Ave know of Philip is in immediate connection
with Jesus, and ahvays in reference to the knoAvledge of him as the
Christ. Philip, therefore, represents an intellectual apprehension of
the truth relating to the Lord. We have seen Avhen treating, in
Matthew (chap, x.), of the enumerations of the twelve, as they occur
in the gospels, that of the three groups of four in Avhich they are
arranged, Peter is ahvays the first of the first group, and Phihp is
always the first of the second. Philip may thus be considered as a
second Peter ; the leading inteUigence of a lower class of minds, and
the intellectual element among a loAver degree of principles. TMs
may make Philip appropriately the principal link of connection be
tween the Greek Gentiles and the Lord. Those in their condition,
who would see Jesus, must come to him, or seek access to him,
through that mtelligence Avhich PhiUp represented. It is, as Ave
shall see m a future chapter, an inteUigence which sees Jesus, not as
one Avith the Father, but AA'hich is capable of admitting that truth
when presented in its true light.
22. But there is another Avho must be associated with Philip before
introduction to the Lord can be obtained. When the Greeks apply to
PhUip, Philip cometh and telleth Andrcio: and agahi Andrew und
Philip tell Jesus. Philip and Andrew, like Peter aud Andrew, are,
with a dUfereuce in degree, types of faith in the understandhig and
faith in the will, or, of truth and the good Avhich are acquhed by means

Chap. Xll.] ST. JOHN. 291
of it. To seek access to Jesus through Philip is to seek to come to
him by intellectutxl faith, or through truth only ; but to teach us that
not only intellectual but voluntary faith, not truth only but the good
of truth, is required for titis, Philip comes and teUs Andrew ; and to
instruct us furtiier that fitith both hi the Avill and in the understand
ing is necessary to give us a true and saving connection Avith the Lord,
AudrcAv aud Philip come aud tell Jesus — AudreAV being now placed
first to show that the good of faith is in the first place aud the truth
of faith in the second.
23. Introduced as the pious Greeks were into his presence, Jesus
ansioered them, saying. The hour is cume, that the Son of man should
he glorified. Regarded m the literal or Mstorical sense, it seems
singular that the Lord shoMd address those strangers and Gentiles m
a discourse on his passion and glorification. But these Greek strangers
Avere of, and represented, those among Avhom the ucav or Christian-
church Avas about to be rtiised up ; and this raising up of the church
Avas consequent on the Lord's glorification; for his niystie;il body is
fasMoned after the pattern of Ms glorious body. The phrttse, " the
hour is come,'' or " is coming," is used by our Lord on several oc
casions. It is expressive of the near approach of the time, aud the
certainty of the event, of which the Lord speaks. The hour of the
Lord's glorification being come, teUs us that the great work, for Avliich
the Lord had come into the world. Avas on the eve of its completion.
The humanity which the Lord, in his marveUous and merciful conde
scension, had assumed for the redemption of his creatures, Avas now
about to pass out of its state of humility into a state of transcendent
glory. 24. The necessity for the glorification ofthe Son of man, its nature,
and its blessed resMts, our Lord proceeds to declare. Verily, verily,
I say unto you. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die-
it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. This
divine declaration is explained in the Writings in a passage so lucid, so
beautiful, and at the same time so practical, that, departing from our-
usual practice, we give it m the author's OAvn words. Hu is treating
of the glorification of the Lord's rational principle, in the inmost of"
which humanity, or the conscious life of man, begins, and wMch, in the
Lord, was immediately below the soul, or the divine humanity, which he-
derived from the F'ather. The part of the Word, in connection Avith which
the explanation is given, is that Avliich contains the history of Ishmael
and Isaac ; Ishmael, the son of Ilagar the Egyptian, representing the
natural rational, which every natural man of sound mind acquires, and

292 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
Isaac representing the spiritual rational, Avhich the regenerate oidy re
ceive. He is explaining the Avords, Cast out this handmaid and her
son. After stating that the casting out the handmaid and her son,
signified the extermination of the things pertaining to the rational
principle merely human, he proceeds : " How the first rational
principle Avas exterminated, and AA'as succeeded by the Divine, shall
be briefly explained. Every one who is regenerated has tAvo rational
principles, one before, the other after regeneration. The first, which
is before regeneration, is accpiired by experiences of the senses, by
reflections on things in civil and moral life, by the sciences, and by
reasonings draAvii frora and directed by them, as aa'cU as by the
knoAvlcdges of things spiritual from the doctrine of faith or from the
Word ; but these extend little beyond the ideas of the corporeal
memory, Avhich are comparatively very material. Whatever therefore
he then thinks is from such things, or, that they may be taken in at
-one vieAV by the interior or intellectual sight, semblances of them are
produced by comparison or analogy. Such is the nature of the first
rational principle, or of that Avhicli exists before regeneration. But
the rational prmciple after regeneration is formed of the Lord by
means of the affections of spiritual truth and good, which affections are
marvellously implanted by the Lord in the truths of the first rational
principle, and thus the things therehi Avhicli agree Avitli and favour
those affections are vivified, AvhUst other things are separated as useless,
till at length spiritual goodnesses and truths are bound together as it
were into bundles ; things incongruous, AA'hich cannot be vivified, being
rejected as it were to the chcumference, and this successively, as
spiritual goodnesses and truths increase together aa-UIi the lUe of their
affections. Flence it is evident what is the nature of the second ra
tional principle. This subject may be Ulustrated by comparison Avith
the fruit of trees. The fhst rational principle, in the beginMug, is like
unripe fruit, which gradually ripens tUl the seeds are deposited Avithin
it ; and Avhen it is of such an age as to begm to separate itself from
the tree, its state is full. But the second rational principle, Avhich is
given by the Lord when man is being regenerated, is like the same
fruit in good ground, in Avhicli the parts that surround the seeds decay,
and the seeds themselves shoot forth from theh inmost parts, and
throw out a root, and send up a stem, Avhich grows mto a neAv tree,
and unfolds itself, at last hito new fruits, and afterAvards into gardens
aud paradises, accordmg to the affections of good and of truth which
it has received ; as may be seen, John xii. 24. But as examples are
most convincing, let us take one. The first rational principle in the

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 293
begiuMng knoAvs no other love than the love of self and the love of
the world ; and though instructed that heavenly love is entirely
different from these, yet it does not comprehend it ; and afterAvards,
when it does any good, it perceives no other delight from it, than
that of meriting favour, or of being reputed a Christian, or of ob
taining the joy of eternal life. But the other rational principle, Avith
Avhich man is gifted of the Lord by means of regeneration, begins
to have some delight in goodness and truth themselves, and to be
affected Avith this delight, not for the sake of self, but of goodness and
truth ; and being led to act frora this delight, it rejects merit, and at
length renounces it as enormous. In the new rational principle this
delight successively increases and becomes blessed, and in the other
lUe it becomes happiness, and its A'ery heaven. Hence, then, it may
appear how the case is in regard to each rational principle Avith one AA'ho
is regenerated. But it is to be observed, that although a man is re
generated, stUl aU things general and particular, Avhich are of the first
rational principle, remain Avith Mm, and are only separated frora the
other rational prmciple, and this miraculously by the Lord. But the
Lord utterly exterminated the first rational principle, so that no trace
of it remained, for the merely human and the Divine cannot be
together. Hence he was no longer the son of Mary, but was Jehovah
as to each essence."
The simUitude Avhich the Lord employed to describe his glori
fication is equaUy descriptive of his resurrection. And as all the
simUitudes which the Lord employed Avere correspondences, the
present comparison is an exact illustration of both. It is not our
intention to enter largely or minutely ou this branch of the subject;
but we may remark that the same laAv of order presided over the
glorification of the natural principle as over that of the rational.
Glorification, in aU its degrees, was effected by a process of puttmg off
aud of putting on. And if Ave may follow the analogy of the death
and resurrection of the seed, Ave may venture to say, that, AvhUe the
Lord rose Avith his whole body complete, it does not foUoAv that the
body which rose from the sepulchre Avas the identical body that
Avas laid in it — identical, Ave mean, m substance. It was sown a
natural body; it was raised a Divine Body: or, as the original
may be better expressed, a natural body Avas soavu, a Divine Body
was raised. By what particular mode of operation this Avas effected it
is not our purpose here to inquire. From the lucid exposition of the
present passage we learn, that the divine seed, which the Lord
mherited from the Father, became a Divine Humanity by "unfolding

294 ST JOHN. [Chap. XII.
itself," the material humanity serving, like the fruit in which the seed
is deposited, as a body in which it might be manifested, and in AA'hich
it might unfold itself Yet there is one necessary condition of its devel
opment and perfection : the material body must die, that the Divine
seed may live. Whatever was the final act Avhich completed the
Xoi'd's glorification, the process was gradual and successive, from the
Lord's birth to Ms death. And the humanity iu Avliich now dAveUeth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, is a Divine Humanity, the
.Source and the Pattern of all human perfection.
25. Having instructed his hearers iu the nature and m.anner of his
glorification, the Lord proceeds to teach them the nature and manner
of their regeneration, as the image of his divine Avork. He thut loveth
his life shall lose it ; and he that hateth his life in this woild shall
keep it uuto life eternal. This expiresses in another form what the
Lord had just said respecting himself That Avhich is to be hated is
natural life, as opposed to spiritual life — the earthly as opposed to
the heaA'enly. The Avord translated life is that Avhioh in some other
l-)laces is rendered soul, and means the hereditary life, as opposed to the
spiritual Ufe AA'hich Ave receive by regeneration. AVe cannot under
stand the Lord to speak of life in the sense of existence; for this no
one is required to hate, nor would- the hatred of temporal existence
secure eternal life. Immortality is uncouditicmal. The life of man is
his ruling love, Avhicli enters as a living soM into all the thoughts and
intents of the heart, and into all the Avords and actions of the life.
The love of self is the life Avhicli belongs to aU men by nature, and
this life they must hate in the Avorld, if thej' Avoidd keep it unto life
eternal. That life which is lost is not the same life that is saved.
But as a man can have at one time but one ruling loA'c Avhich is his
life, aud his very self, when he hates his corrupt life, the Lord im
parts to him a ucav life, a ruling love whose nature is heaveMy. But
the condition is, that he AA'ho hates life " in this world" shall keep it
uuto life eternal. No doubt the lesson teaches that the work is m
this Avoiid, the reAvard is in the next. But there is a temporal and eternal
in ourselves, which are found in our natural and our spiritual minds. To
hate the evil life in this Avorld, is to hate or shun it, as it exists in the
natural mind, to overcome it in thought and act, Avhich is to hate it
practically. And when the love of evil is put to death iu the flesh,
the love of good obtains Ufe in the spirit.
26. The Lord foUoAvs up his teaching respecting the duty of self
saorifice by saying. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where
I um, there shall also my servant be: if any mau serve me, him iviU

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN, 295
my Father honour. To serve is rather to minister. A minister is one
who acts from good ; a servant one avIio acts from truth — one serves
from love, the other from duty. In domg good to our neighbour we
minister to the Lord ; for good from the Lord in men is the neighbour
to Avhom Ave are to minister. W"e never do real good to our neigh
bour, except Avhen we contribute to his real good ; and Ave never con
tribute to his real good, except when we contribute to the strengthen
ing of his good principles. These good principles are the Lord in
man ; and in ministering to thera we minister to the Lord. But those
who nunister to the Lord are to follow him ; that is, to follow his
example, and to let their good be guided by his truth. We must not
oMy do good, we must do it intelligently; we must not only love, but
love wisely. Then "where I am there AviU my minister be." Truth
spiritualizes good. The first good principle Avith every one is natural.
DiAine truth directs it to spiritual objects aud eternal ends ; and Avlien
it foUoAvs Avhere truth leads, it becomes united to truth, and dAvells
Avith it in the heaven of the inner man. Then also is the divine
promise realized, " If any man avlU minister unto me, him wiU my
Father honour." The Father is the Divine love, as the Son is the
Divme truth. When natural good is purified and sanctified by truth,
it then, if it continues constant in ministermg to the Lord, becomes
receptive of the Divhie love, and fiUed thereby with higher delights
and purer joys.
27. The Lord, from speaking of his glorification to those around
him, tmms iuAvards into himself, where the last dread trial had already
begun. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour : but for this cause came I unto this hour.
The temptation that culminated in the jiassion of the cross had aheady
commenced. Anguish of soul preceded agony of body. The poAvers
of darkness mvaded Ms inner man and pressed upon his inner life,
before they assaUed his outer man and acted upon his outer life. The
Lord's soul Avhich was troubled Avas not the divine soul Avhich he in
herited from the Father, for this was incapable of suffering ; it was
the human soM which he inherited from the mother, understanding
by this the Lord's human nature, everything in the Lord's humanity
which Avas beneath- the divine, even the rational principle, m the in
most of Avhioh the human principle begins. But this human principle
considered as it is in men, was not capable of being troubled with
that trouble Avhich the Sou of man endured. The human must have
been receptive of the Divine, before it could be subject to such sorrows
of temptation. Neither the purely divme nor the merely human

296 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
were susceptible of such a feeling, as that which our Lord expressed.
Only humaMty inhabited by Divinity coMd be the subject of
temptations such as the Lord experienced. In his tribulation
Jesus exclaims, " What shall I say ?" The sayings of our Lord
were revelations of Avhat passed in his oavu mind and occurred in Ms
OAvn experience, and thence of Avhat pertains to the corresponding states
of those Avho folloAv him. He therefore says what he felt, both from
his maternal and paternal humanitj' ; first from the maternal :
" Save me from this hour;" and then from the Paternal : "but for
this cause came 1 unto this hour.'' There is ever iu trial this conflict
between the flesh and the spirit. The flesh shrinks from and depre
cates the hour, — the state and experience in Avhich its life is to bo laid
doAvn. But Avith those Avho are in the true order of the heavenly life,
the corrective Avill ever be at hand. The alternative presents itself,
" For this cause came I unto this hour." Even in the midst of trial, AA'hen
the natural shows its inclination and its Aveakness, the spiritual perceives
that the very thing Avhioh the natural dreads is that for Avhich the trial is
permitted. No trial , no triumph ; no suffering, no glory ; no death, no life.
28. In the poAver of this conviction the Lord uoav prays, Father,
glorify thy ncmie. Taken in the ordinarj' sense, which it contains, the
Son is Avilling to endure for the sake of advancing the Father's glory ;
just as man's highest motive to suffer and obey is the glory of God.
But the Son is himself the name of the Ftxther, for the glorification of
which he prays. The Sou is the Fjther's name, because the Divine
Avisdom is the expression of the Divine loA'e — the Divine Hu
manity is the express image of the Essential Divinity. A name
expresses the quality or character of him Avho bears it, and the
humanity expresses the quality of the divinity. The Son manifests
the Father, and brings him forth to view. When therefore the
Lord prayed the Father to glorify his name, he ju'ayed the divmity
to glorify the liumanity, or to make the humanity divine and one Avith
itself. When Jesus had uttered this prayer, then came there a voice
from heaven, saying, Ihave both glorified it, rind will glorify -it again.
We need not dAvell here on the prayer and answer, as presenting the
appearance of a personal distinction betAveon the Father and the Son.
These are appearances that can only be presented in the domain of
nature, or, at least in the sphere of finite existence, Avliere divine things
are seen under appearances, that accommodate them to human appre
hension. Infinite things can only be seen by finite minds Avhen they
fall into corresponding finite ideas. In this Avay, Avliat is only a dis
tinction in the divine nature assumes the appearance of separate per-

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN, 297
sonality. But reason is able to correct these appearances. Every one
of any reflection knows that there can be no such difference between
the essential principles or attributes of the Deity, as that Avhich Avas
presented by the Lord Avhen upon the earth. One cannot address the
other. To suppose this, aa'c must suppose the Ftither and the Son to
have each a distinct consciousness, Avliich entirely destroys all idea of
divine unity. There Avas indeed a distinction of this kind betAveen the
Father and the Son before the Lord's glorification ; for the humtuiity
had then a consciousness distinct from that of the divinity, which Avas
manUested in it. And this human consciousness Avas that from Avliich
the Lord prayed to the Father, aud Avhich gave the Father the poAver
of answering the Son's petitions. But one primary object here is to
attend to this answer to the Lord's prayer. The Father answers this
petition by saying, " I have both glorified it, and avUI glorify it again."
The glorification of the humanity, like every other divine Avork, Avas
effected by distmct acts, or by discrete degrees, each of Avhicli Avas con
tinuous in itseU. There are three degrees iu all such processes — natu
ral, spiritual, celestial. Every man who is fully regenerated, passes
through all these degrees ; and therefore the Lord, Avliose glorification
answered to man's regeneration, passed through them all. It is in re
ference to these that the Father says, " I have both glorified it and Avill
glorUy it again." Among the signs by which this trinal glorification
is represented or expressed, the three times AA'hich the F'ather thus
openly addressed and acknoAvledged the Son are conspicuous.
29, 30. It is remarkable that the voice Avhich gaA-e so clear an utter
ance to the Lord, conveyed no distinct meaning to the multitude. The
¦people tlierefore, that stood hy, and heurd it, said thcd it thundered:
others said. An angel spake to him. Jesus unswered und said. This
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. It would ap
pear from this that Jesus did not require this voice from heaven for
his own comfort and encouragement ; and that the voice Avas capable
of strengthening the faith of the people, though it conveA'ed to them
no intelligible sense. Faith cannot exist Avithout knoAvledge, The
knoAvledge of the truth precedes faith in the truth. That which en
ables us to know the truth is entirely different from that Avhich enables
us to believe it. That which gives faith is a state, not of the intellect
only, but also and primarily of the heart. On the present occasion,
the Lord had instructed the people in the truth relating to his OAvn
glorification, and to their regeneration as its fruit and its image. The
voice from heaven was given tc influence their hearts, that they might
receive in faith what they had heard in inteUigence. When this

298 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
subject is considered as it relates to us individuaUy, the lesson it
teaches is more clearly and profitably perceived. Divine truth, as it
comes from God out of heaven, becomes more sonorous as it descends ;
but as the sound increases the sense becomes more indistinct. In
heaven among the angels, divine truth is tacit but clear ; on earth
among men, it is loud but obscure. The divine laAv, Avhich in heaven
was light anil peace, Avas uttered to the Israelites timidst the thunders
of Sinai. Divine truth is soft and gentle but clear, Avhen it is in the
internal man, but when it descends into the external, it is loud but
obscure. The people that stood by AA'hen the Lord uttered his prayer
represented the affections and thoughts of the external man, AA'hUe the
Lord himseU Avas the internal ; and therefore the voice was clear and
its words Avere intelligible to him, but Avere as the mutterings of thimder
to the multitude. The sound Avas different to different hearers, for,
Avhile some said it thundered, some said an angel spake to him. In
Scripture, thunder signifies divine truth as it affects the wUl, as light
ning signifies divine truth as it affects the understanding. Here aa'c
have Avhat seemed to the multitude as the sound of thunder and au
angel's voice ; the first being expressive of the impression wMch divine
truth makes upon the Avill, and the second, of divine truth as it affects
the understanding. But divine truth that comes to men as the sound
of thunder, indicates a particular condition in regard to those Avho thus
hear it. The sound of thunder in the spiritual world is the sound of
approaching judgment. Thunder is the result of an atmosphere over
charged Avith electricity ; and the explosion dissipates the fluid and
clears the atmosphere, rendering it fresh and exhilarating. Such is the
use of judgment. It removes the accumulated e-vil and false influen
ces, and purifies the moral and spiiritual atmosphere.
31. Our Lord therefore addresses himself to the people in these
Avords : Now is the judgment of this world . now shall fhe prince oj
this world be cast out. This is expressed stiU more strongly in Luke
(x. 18), "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven;" where the
judgment is presented under the figure Ave are now considering. The
thunder cloud had burst upon the heads of the wicked. " He sent
forth lightning and scattered them" (Ps. cxliv. 6). Our Lord said,
'' For judgment am I come into this Avoiid ;" and he adds, as the pur
pose of the judgment, " that they Avhich see not might see, and. that
those Avhich see might be made blind" (chap. ix. 39). The end of
all judgment is adjustment — ^that things wrong may be righted ; that
the good may be restored to the po\ver of using their faculties, and the
evU depriA'ed of the power of abusing them. Hoav is this to be

Chap. XILJ ST, JOHK. 299
effected, and hoAv, in particular, Avas it effected by the Lord when he
was manifest in the flesh ? It was effected by the performance of a
judgment in the spiritual world. When evil increases and pre
vails in the natural world, evil spirits increase and prevail in
the spiritual Avoiid ; so that the equilibrium between heaven
and hell is disturbetl, and with it the equilibrium betAveen good
and evU upon earth. To remove the prejaonderance of the power of
lieU over that of heaven in the spiritual world, and thence the prepon
derance of the power of evil over the poAver of good in the natural
Avorld, is the purpose of judgment. A general judgment of this kind
takes place at the end of every dispensation. The judgment AA'hich
took place at the end of the Israehtish dispensation is that of Avliich
our Lord speaks. The subjugation of the powers of darkness and the
glorification of the Lord's humanity were concurrent operations, and
therefore the Lord connects them together. And Avheii he speaks of
this Avorld and the prince of this world, he does not mean the world
as a place, but the world as a state ; for only in respect to its moral
and sphitual state is the Avoiid judged, and only in this respect is Satan
its prince aud ruler. Satan rMes the Avoiid Avhen evil rules m the
hearts of men, and, as a consequence, in the church and in the world.
The world was judged Avhen the Lord established the principles of
justice and judgment among men ; aud the prince of this Avorld Avas
judged, when the poAvers of darkness were brought under subjection,
by the completion of human redemption, and of the Lord's glorifi
cation. 32, 33. After judgment comes a ueAv poAver of elevation and new
Ufe. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, wdl draw all men unto
me. This hfting up, naturally understood, was the Lord's crucifixion :
this he said, signifying what death he should die. But the Lord's
crucifixion Avas a means of his glorification. This glorification Avas the
true hfting up of the Son of man, Avhicli gave him the power of draAV-
mg all men unto him. When his humaMty Avas raised by glorification
above all human frailty, and above all trial and temptation, and exalted
into union Avitli his divmity, then Avas he able to draw all men unto
hira. This is a most important doctrine, and teaches one of the
greatest and most blessed truths that the Lord revealed, or the gospel
contains. The poAver to draAv men unto him was the very object and
use of the Lord's coming. This Avas provided for by removing obsta
cles that stood in the Avay, and prevented man's return to God, and
by exercising a power of draAving men unto him. Obstructions Avere
removed by the Avork of redemption, attraction Avas exercised by the

300 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
work of glorification. By subjugating the powers of darkness, the
Lord deprived them of the power of preventing men frora coming to
him, that is, he restored to man the complete possession of spiri
tual liberty : by glorifying his humanity, the Lord acquired a poAver,
and provided a medium, through which he could exercise an attraction
upon human beings ; for his humanity brought God relatively nearer
to men, and established a sympathy betAA'een himself and them, by
Avhich his poAver of drawing them nearer to him and into coiijmiction
Avith him Avas increased. It is therefore because the humanity he as
sumed Avas lifted up, that he is able to draw all men unto him. There
is an application of this to individuals. The earth being an emblem of
the natural mmd, the lifting up of the Son of man is the eleA'ation of the
Lord's divine truth out of the natural into the spiiitual mind. When it
it thus lifted up from the eartMy to the heavenly region of the mind,
it draAVS unto itself aU the natural affections aud thoughts — all that are
included under the name of men, or such as are truly human.
34. When the Lord had uttered these remarkable and memorable
Avords, The people answered him, We have heard out of tlie law that
Chiist abideth for ever: and how sayest thou. The Son of man must
he lifted up ? who is this Son of man ? How characteristic of natural
men are these Avords ! They had rightly learnt that Christ abideth
for ever — that "ofthe increase of his government and peace there shaU
be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order
it, and to establish it with judgment and Avith justice from henceforth
even for ever " (Isa. ix. 7). But they expected that both the king
and the kingdom Avere to be of this world. They could not, therefore,
understand Avhat this lifting up could mean. Nor could they under
stand Avho this Son of man could be of whom the Lord spake. They
kncAv nothing of the nature of the kingdom Avhich the Lord came on
earth to establish, nor of the means by Avhich its establishment AA'as to
be effected. The disciples themselves, and even the tAvelve, Avho had
foUoAved him and listened to his teaching, remained as dark on this
subject as the multitude, till the Lord's resurrection had revealed it to
them. Their notions concerning Christ are the natural offspring of
the condition of mind Avhich is incident to every disciple in the
early stage of his religious life. And even now, Avhen the truth is
knoAvn, aud is taught to every Christian child, the early perception is
the same in all, and is oMy changed from natural to spiiitual by pro
gressing in the regenerate life. Every one who receives Christ thinks
Christ Avill abide for ever as he is received. But as every one receives
the Lord according to his state, change of state produces change of

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 301
reception. The Lord does not abide with us for ever as we first receive
him. He must (Ue and depart from us after the flesh and according to
the letter, that he may come to us in the poAver aud glory of the spirit.
35. The Lord does not directly or formally correct the false notions
of the people, but gives them such instruction as will lead them into
the state of mind that is receptive of him at his coming. Then
Jesus said unto them. Yet a little while is the light with yuu : wcdk
while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon -you : for he thut
walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. The people had
concluded theh remarks by asking, " Who is this Son of man ?" The
Lord's words contain the ausAver to this question. He speaks of him
seU as the Light. The Son of man is the ntime expressive of the
Lord as divhie Truth, or of the Word made flesh, the eternal and immut
able Truth clothed in the vesture of humanity. This was the light
that the people had Avith them in the person of Christ ; this AA'as the
Son of man that Avas to be lifted up. But the condition of the Sou
<f man's bemg lifted up in our hearts is, that Ave walk in the light
Avhile it is with us — rather among us or in us. W^e cannot come to
the sphit of the Word, unless Ave Avalk according to the teaching of the
letter. The letter cannot be our guide ahvays ; but Avhile it is, Ave
must be faithfid to its teaching. If, whUe we have the light, Ave Avalk
iu the light, it will, after a brief eclipse, such as that which hid the
Lord from the disciples after the crucifixion, shine forth in greater
splendour ; but if we walk not according to the light while we have it,
darkness wiU come upon us ; for Avhen the veil of the letter is rent
asunder, those only Avho can see in the spiritual light of truth shall see
the Lord. And he that walketh in darkness kuoAveth not whither he
goeth. The use of light is to lighten our path ; but Avhere there is
no light, Ave wander and go we kiiOAV not whither. Truth iu religion
is ofthe utmost importance; ignorance and error are both to be deplored,
for their tendency is to keep the mind in darkness, and cause the feet
to wander and stumble m the path of life.
36. Our Lord further says. While ye have the light, believe in the light,
that ye may be the children of light. In the previous verse the people
are exhorted to walk while they have the light ; here they are exhorted
to believe in it. True faith is buUt upon obedience as well as mani
fested m good works. By walking in the light Ave oome to believe in
the light, and by believing and Avalking m the light we become the
chUdren of light. To be the children of light is to be regenerated by
means of divme truth, which is, to become spiritual. The distinction
here made between having the light, believing in the light, and being

302 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIL
the children of hght, is of great importance to be attended to ; for to
have the light is to possess truth in the memory, to believe iu the
light is to have it in the understanding, and to be children or sons
of the light is to be born again of truth by its full mcorporation mto
the love and life.
These tlungs spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself
from them. The Lord departs from those Avho depart from him, and
hides himself from those with Avhom he can have no communion. He
departs from the evil avUI, and hides himself from the false understand
ing. To express it otherwise, evU in the will separates betAveen man
and his God, and falsity m the understanding hides the Divme face
from him. Jesus UteraUy departed and hid himseK from the people,
but his acts were representative of Avhat he does spiritually with regard
to those Avho, like the people he addressed, refused either to obey or
believe in the offered Ught.
37. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet
they believed not on him. Miracles done before men seem to have
little effect m producing belief To beUeve, tlieir understandings must
be enlightened, theh hearts must be changed, their eyes and their
ears must be opened. This is the miracle Avhich gives true and livmg
faith. Creation is full of miracles, but these fail to convince men of
the existence and presence of the Creator.
38. This unbelief had been foreseen and therefore foretold. They
beheved not on hhn, that the sayings of Esuias the prophet might be
fulfilled, which he spake. Lord, who huth believed our report ? and to
whom huth the arm of fhe Lord been revealed ? This occurs in
Isaiah liii., where the deepest states of our Lord's humiliation, his
trials and temptations, are treated of; and the chapter begins Avith
these Avords, for human unbelief lay at the foundation of aU the Lord's
temptations. "Who hath believed our report?" is equivalent to the
Lord's own question, in relation to his second coming. " AVhen the
Son of man cometh, shall he find faith in the eai'th?" (Luke xviii. 8).
The ansAver implied in the prophet's question is. No one. No one hath
believed our report, to none hath the arm of the Lord been revealed.
There was no reception either of the divine truth or of the divine love
tmioug men, even when they appeared m the person, m the teaching,
and in the works of the Son of man. Many believed not his report,
although his doctrine dropped as the rain, and distUled as the deA\', his
speech as the small rain upou the tender herb, and as the shoAvers
upon the grass ; nor did they yield to his beiieficeut acts, though the
arm of his omnipotence had been put forth to perform them. The

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 303
aim of the Lord, or, as expressed in the prophet, the arm of Jehovah,
was the Lord's humanity. This is expressi\'ely called the arm of the
Lord, because the human nature Avhich the Lord assumed was an
extension of his saving power, by putting it forth in accommodating
it to the condition of fallen humanity. The arm of the Lord is also
the divine truth of his divhie love, for divine love exerts its poAver
t-Mough (Uvine truth, comparatively as the body does by the arm.
39, 40. But notwithstanding this putting forth of the arm of Jehovah
in the person of Jesus Chiist, the mass of those to whom the divine
manifestation was made remained in unbelief The evangelist even
goes so far as to say that they could, -not believe, because that Esuias
said again. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened fheir heart; tlmt
they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and
be converted, and I should heal them. The Avords of the prophet, and
the evangelist's introduction to them, seem to teach that unbelief Avas
mdependent of the avM of the people, being the result of a divinely
inflicted state of intellectual blindness aud hardness of heart. The
Lord, no doubt, hides the truth from men in certain states of mind,
and in doing Avhich his goodness is manifested. This Ave learn espe
ciaUy from the Avords of Jesus himself, Avhen he addressed the Father in
the remarkable Avords, " I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
hast revealed them unto babes ; even so. Father, for so it seemed good
m thy sight" (Luke x. 21). What seems good in the sight of God
must be good in relation to men as well as in relation to Himself He
Mdes divme Avisdom from the Avise and prudent, only to prevent them
from profanmg what is holy. And profanation consists in first believ
ing the truth and afterAvards denying it. Those who do this not only
seriously injure the cause of religion, but they do an incalculable
and eternal injury to themselves. Those who are converted and healed,
and return to unbelief and sin, are in a worse state than if they had
never known the truth. " For it is impossible for those who Avere
once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and Avere made
partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God,
and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall aAvay, to renew
them again unto repentance : seemg they crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame " (Heb. vi. 4-6).
Reason as well as revelation teUs us that it is impossible for a perfect
Bemg, mfimte in goodness as in Avisdom, to hide from any of Ms
creatures the means of salvation, except for their own sake. And
however the letter of the Word may seem to favour the opposite con-

304 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XII.
elusion, the spirit of the Word reveals the true state of the case. The
letter of the Word expresses the truth according to the appearance ;
but he Avho would judge righteous judgment must look into the truth
as it is, in its nearer relation to its Author.
41. The evangelist concludes by saying, Tliese things said Esaias,
when he saw his glory, und spuke of him. The glory of the Lord, of
Avhom the prophet spake, he thus describes, " I saw also the Lord,
sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the
temple. Above it stood the seraphims ; each one had six wings ; with
tAvaiii he covered his face, and with tAvain he covered his feet, and
Avith tAvaiu he did fly " (vi. 1, 2). It is evident from the tenor of the
chapter, that this Avas a vision, iu which the prophet saw the glory of
the Lord, as it was iu heaven, which is God's throne, and as it was to
be manifested on earth, in the temple of his humanity. The preaching
and spread of the gospel are also the theme ofthe prophecy. " I heard
the A'oioe of the Lord, saying, Whom shaU I send, and avIio wiU go
for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me" (v. 8). And then foUows
the Avords quoted by John, — " Go and tell this people. Hear ye indeed,
but understixnd not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the
heart of the people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their
eyes ; lest they see Avitli their eyes and hear Avith their ears, and under-
slanil wiih their heart, and convert, and be healed" (v. 9, 10). TMs
is intended to describe the general state of the JeAvish people, at the
time of the Lord's coming. It AA'as foreseen that they AvoMd, as a
church, refuse the offer of salvation, and that in consequence, theh
land AA'ould be utterly desolate ; in other Avords, that their dispensation
Avould come to an end. Yet it is promised that "in it shaU be a tenth,
and it shall return, and shall be eaten : as a teU-tree, and as an oak,
Avhose substance is in them, when they cast theh leaves : so the holy
seed shall be the substance thereof" (13). By this we are instructed
that, Avhile the church Avould come to an end, yet, according to the
merciful providence of the Lord in such cases, a remnant should be
preserved, to form the germ or nucleus of a neAv dispeiication. Accord
ing to the evident scope of this prophetic vision of the prophet, the
blindness and hardness of heart, Avliioh had been brought upon the
people, are descriptive of the general condition of the church, Avhich
had come to an end, to be succeeded, hoAvever, by a ucav and Moher
dispensation of truth and righteousness.
42, 43. Of the remuant, the teuth, the holy seed, which Avas pro-
iniseil to be preserved amidst the general corruption, the evano-elist now
speaks. Nevertheless, umong the ch icf rulers also many believed on him ;

Chap, XII,] ST, JOHN. 305
hut because ofthe Pharisees they did not confesn him, lest they should
be put out of the synagogue : J'ur they loved the praise ofmen mora
than the praise of God. Nicodemus Avas one ofthe rulers of the Jcavs,
and he formed one of the first fruits of the Lord's gospel. His Avas
not, however, the only mstance of the acceptance of Christianity among
the rMers of the JeAvish church. There Avere secret disciples, avIio did
not confess him because of the Pharisees ; they loved the praise of men
more than the praise of God. Still they Avere disciples, though they
remained in the ranks of Jud.xism, and retained their hereditary and
national religious connection. The Lord did not condemn Nicodemus
for commg to him by night, nor counsel him to confess him opeMj'.
He is tender to human infirmity, although Ave can have no difficulty iu
knoAving Avhich he commends. To love the praise of men more than
the praise of God is certainly a very imperfect state ; but it is one that
Avill be succeeded by a better in those Avho are smcere, though secret,
disciples. 44, 45. We have seen, at the 36th verse, that, having addressed him
self to the people, he departed and Avent and hid himself Here Ave
find it recorded that Jesus cried, and said, He that believeth on me,
believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me,
seeth Mm that sent me. Jesus is supposed to have uttered these
Avords as he departed and Avas at some distance, hence he cried and
said. However this may be, to cry is expressive of the ardency of his
love, and also of the clearness of his truth. What he uttered in
volves also tMs distinction. Jesus speaks of himself as being sent,
and of the F''ather as sending him. The Father Avho sends is the
divinity, the Son who is sent is the humaMty ; the Father Avho sends
is the divine love, the Son who is sent is the divine Avisdom. Love
comes to men and manifests itseU to them, addresses them and acts
upon them, by wisdom. God, from his love, creates, redeems, and
saves by Ms wisdom. The Lord's divinity is thus the Father and
Sender ol his humanity ; and he who believes in Jesus as God mani
fest in the flesh, believes not in the mere humanity of Jesus, but in
his indwelling Divinity. But Jesus here declares, " he that believeth
on me, beheveth not on me, but on him that sent me." In this our
Lord asserts that true belief in him includes m it belief in God. And
this he stUl further aud more forcibly declares when he adds, "and he
that seeth me seeth him that sent me.'' That which the Lord here
teaches is, however, more than a theological tenet, to be embodied in
a creed ; it is a divine truth, to be embodied in a heaveMy life. To
know that he who sees and believes in Jesus sees and believes in God,
u

306 ST, JOHN, [Chap. XII,
is a most momentous tmth ; but to receive him in faith and love, this
is to believe in and to see the Father in the Son, or God in Ms Divine
Humanity. 46. Our Lord teaches this openly in the words which now follow.
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should
not abide in darkness. Divine light is Divine wisdom ; and love is m
Avisdom as heat is in light. The Lord came a light into the world, Avhich
lay in darkness. As the eternal Word, he Avas the true light that
lighteth every man that cometh into the world. That which had been
the inward shining light, came into the world and AA'as outwardly
manifested, that AA'itli their eyes and inteUects men might see the Ught,
Avhich had never ceased to shine into the highest region of their mhids,
but which, in descending into their natural understandings, shone in
darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. The divine love,
compassionating the state of men, desired to remove theh darkness,
and therefore came Avith the liglit of Avisdom, to enlighten the human
mind ; so that its light, displayed without, might unite Avith that
Avhich shone within, to dissipate the prevaUing darkness of ignorance
and eiror. The hght AA'hich came to us by the mcarnation of him
Avho is the Light itself, has provided us with the means of being en
lightened through a ucav medium, even the humanity of the Lord ; so that
while from his divinity the Lord still acts upon aud gives light to the
inmost of the mind, from his humanity he may give light to the natural
mind, so that both may be enlightened together, and in the light, may
receive the love, of God.
47. 'Merciful was this condescension of God to men, and merciful is
the dealing of God with those Avho refuse it. And if any man hear
my words, and believe not, I judge him not : for I came not to judge
the woi'ld, but to save the world. Judgment here cA-idently means
condemnation. The Lord had already declared that " God sent not
his Son into the Avoiid to condemn the world, but that the world
through him might be saved" (iii. 17). Salvation Avas the purpose of
divine love, and the work of divine Avisdom, in the Incarnation. Such
is the divine nature, that it would save all ; and the Lord's Avork in
the flesh is sufficient for universal salvation. But even those aa'Iio
reject this salvation are not judged or condemed by the Saviour. He
came not to condemn, but to save ; nor is there any attribute of his
nature, as it is in him, that condemns even the Avorst of sinners. Con
demnation has another cause, Avliich the Lord uoav proceeds to show. **
48. He that rejecteth me, and reeeiveth not my words, hath one that
judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shcdl judge him

Chap. XIL] ST. JOHN. 307
in the last day. If the words of the Lord judge, it may seem as if the
Lord himself judged. But it is the unbeliever that turns into a
means of condemnation that Avhich is given as a means of salvation.
If he knows the truth, the truth avIU make him free ; but if he
violates the tmth, the truth wUl bring him into bondage. There is
no condemnation but that of rejected or violated truth. This is the /
condemation, that light is come into the world, and men loved dark
ness rather than light, because tlieir deeds Avere evil. It is not, there
fore the truth that condemns, it is they Avho act contrary to the truthf
that condemn themselves. The tmth does not oppose them ; they
oppose the truth; and in opposing the truth, they put themselves in a ^
state opposite to the state of heaven, Avhich exists by the laAvs of truth ; <
and, consequently, they put themselves iu the state which constitutes /
hell, as the opposite of heaven. Truth never alters its character ; it
is not m itself different m relation to the good and to the evU, the
angel and the devU. The difference is in their relation to it. The
angel loves and lives it ; the devil hates and violates it ; and it is his
love of it t'nat makes the angel, and his hatred of it that makes the
devU. But this Ave shall see more fMly dechired when we come to
the last verse.
49. The Lord gives a reason for the seeing and non-judging char
acter of his truth. For I have not spuken of myself; but the Father
irhich sent me, he gave me a commundmenf, whcd I should say, and
what I should speak. Let us for a moment consider the doctrinal
import of these words. Did Jesus speak as a divine person or as a
human being? As a (Uvine person he could not say, "I have not
spokenof myself :" for what an infinite person says he cannot but speak
of himself, nor can he speak as he has been commanded by another.
It may be evident from this and from aU other instances of expressed
inferiority and dependence on the part of the Son, that the difference
between the Father and the Son Avas a real and not a nominal differ
ence. The difference was that Avhich exists betAveen love and wisdom,
and between soul and body. There is a real distinction or difference
between these. Love and wisdom, though one and mdivisible, are
perfectly distinct essentials in God ; and divinity and humanity,
though one, are yet distinct. Wisdom also exists and acts from love ;
but by existing, Ave must be understood to mean coming forth
from loA'e ; and so with the humanity in regard to the divinity.
Wisdom speaks from the promptings of love ; the body acts from the
energy of the soul. Here we see the force of the Lord's declaration.
Ho does not judge or condemn, because his words were the Avords of

308 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIII.
love as well as of truth. Truth did not speak of itself in the person
of the Lord ; it spoke what it heard and received from love. Love
was the origin of the commandment. In Jesus infinite love spake
tMough infinite wisdom.
50. The Lord therefore says. And I know that his commandment is
life evei'lasting : whcdsoever I spieuk therefore, even as the Father said
unto me, so I speak. The commandment of the Father is everlasting
life. Yes, this is the end of all the divine commandments. This
was the end of every word uttered and every work done by Jesus
Christ, when he was upon earth. Love to men was the object of the
Lord's coming into the world. Redemption was a work of pure
mfinite love. How true the Avords of the Lord, " Even as the Father
said unto rae, so I speak.'' Every Avord of the Lord was inspired by
his love. And that love Avas the love of mankind, and those words
which were its utterance were the words of wisdom, for the mstruction
and guidance of men in the life which constitutes as weU as leads to
heaven. God's love to men was the origin of the law, and man's
love to God is the fulfilling of the law.

CHAPTER XIIL

Between the end of the preceding chapter and the beginning of the
present there is a wide iiiterval, not of time, but of circumstance. The
raising of Lazarus was the last, and perhaps Ave may say the greatest
of the Lord's miracles, and the discourse he delivered after it Avas the
last he addressed in public to the Jewish peo])le. In his concluding
words to the world he talked Avith them, hoAv fitly ! of righteousness and
of judgment to come. He left them Avitli the divine assurance that
he came not to judge the world, but to save it, and that the only judge
that woMd confront them at the last day Avere the words he had
spoken, and Avhich would only condemn those to Avhom they had been
spoken in vain. Having thus ended that succession of discourses, full
of wisdom and perfect in beauty, he noAv retires Avith his disciples, to
commune Avith them of those more interior things. Avhich coMd be con
sistently and profitably addressed to those only Avho Avere prepared to
enter with him, or rather, perhaps, to obtain a glimpse within the A'ail,
to behold his glory, though to them surrounded as yet with clouds and
darkness, Avhich he dissipated oMy by his resurrection.
1. Now, before tlie feast of fhe passover, when Jesus knew that his

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 309
time was come thcd he should depart out of the world unto fhe Father,
having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the
end. The passover, instituted to celebrate the deliverance of the Israel
ites from the bondage of Egypt, is, as Ave have had occasion to remark,
au ancient type of the feast, by which the redemption of the Avorld Avas
to be celebrated, Avhen our passover, the Lamb of God, of Avhom the
paschal lamb Avas the symbol, Avas sacrificed for us. " Before the pas
sover," has been by some understood to mean the day preceding the cele
bration of the feast ; but the opinion that this Avas the occasion itself, is
more consistent Avith the Avhole circumstances of the case. MatthcAv
indeed records (xxvi. 2) that Avhen Jesus had finished the last of his say
ings to the people, " he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two
days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed into
the hands of sinners ;" and in the same chapter we read of the supper
behig eaten. That John combined these two different circumstances
in his narrative, without making the distinction, may be admitted with
out any real contradiction. In the language of the W^ord there is,
however, a matter of much higher consideration than its literal consis
tency, for the terms it employs have a higher aud more important
meaning. "Before," in its inner sense, means Avhat is prior in regard
to state, Avhat is interior, whether it applies to persons or to time,'=.
Before the feast of the passover is within it. W-ithin the passover lay,
representatively, that Avhich was now about to be accomplished. The
Lord saw in it his death and glorification, the subjugation of the.
poAvers of darkness, and the redemption of the human race. This Avas
the reasou why the passover Avas the occasion on which the Lord
entered into a covenant of life with his disciples ; AA'hy he there
revealed to them his inmost mind, there mstituted the Holy Supper,
and there effected the separation betAveen the clean and the unclean
among his own disciples. There and then it Avas that Jesus knew
his hour was come, and his language imijlies, not only that it Avas
coming, but that to him it Avas already present. He Avho sees an eA'ent
before it comes to pass, sees it as it already exists in its cause, though
it may be long before it exists in its effect. It is also because things
are thus seen by the eye of omiiiscience, that things future are, especi
aUy in the prophets, spoken of as present. All things of which the
Lord now speaks were present to his omniscience. His union with
the Father, which was completed on his departure out of the world,
aheady existed internaUy ; and having loved his own, he loved them
to the end. And here the end is not only the end of his hfe, but the
end in wMch all his operations were to concentrate, and especiaUy the

310 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIII.
ultimate Avhich they all conspired to produce, and in Avhich they
terminated. The Lord loved his own uuto the end Avhen his Divine
Truth, which had descended through aU the heavens and aU the loAver
degrees of finite existence, Avas uoav to become Divine Truth m ulti
mates, m which shoidd be all poAver in heaven and on earth.
2. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to befruy h im. The immediate purpose of
speaking of the supper, is to mention that Jesus rose from it to Avash his
disciples' feet. Not when supper Avas ended, but during supper, is, hoAV-
ever, the correct meaning of the evangelist's language. Jesus rose from
the supper to do a servile office to his disciples. None of the other
gospels mention this affecting circumstance ; but one records an
incident Avhicli some suppose to have given rise to it. Luke relates,
in connection Avith the inquiry of the disciples, Avho it was that should
betray Jesus, that there Avas also a strife among them, which of them
should be accounted the greatest (xxii. 24). That Jesus should adopt
tMs practical and symbolic mode of teaching his foUowers humility
aud brotherly love, by each being Avilling to take the loAvest place and
perform the lowest service, is very conceivable. On another occasion,
when they contended which should be greatest m the ideal kingdom
of theirs, Jesus at once rebuked aud taught them, by settmg a httle
chUd in the midst, and telling them, that except they should be con
verted and become as little children, they avouM not so much as enter
the kingdom of heaven. His washmg the feet of the yet ambitious
disciples, was a lesson not less strUiing and edifymg, which we .shaU
see as we proceed. The part of the narrative now before us pomts out
two particulars Avhich require our attention, before the washing itself
of the disciples' feet comes to be considered. The tAvo particulars
Avhich the evangelist here relates place the Lord's act of humUity in
a strong light by means of contrast. The devU had put into the
heart of Judas to betray him. Not only Judas as a man, but that
..most -degraded part of human nature Avhich he represented, had now
¦nearly filled up the measure of its miquity, Avhich culminated in
the actual betrayal and crucifixion of the Son of man ; and it is here
- described as having reached a particular stage in its evil progress. The
idea of betraying Jesus had uoav entered the heart of Judas. The devU
had put it into his heart. There was nothmg uncomuion iu the case
- of Judas in this respect. All evil is put into the human heart by evil
.spirits. Strictly speaking, evil spirits do not put into the heart any-
^thing of their oavu, or what is not already there. They excite the evils
¦isvhich are natural to the human heart, and which exist in it as evU

Chap, XIIL] ST, JOHN. 311
inclinations. The evU Avas in the heart of Judas ; the devil sthred it
up : and Avlien evU is excited in the heart, it is ready to come forth
into act ; and this it soon did m the case of Judas.
3. But at the same time that the devil was putting into the heart
of Judas to betray his Master and ruin his cause, the Father was
putting into the heart of Jesus that he, the Fcdher, hud given cdl things
into his hands, and thcd he was cume from God, and went to God. It
is hardly necessary to inquhe Avhat those things were which the Father
had giA'en to Jesus, and Avhat is to be understood by their being given
into his bauds. From other parts of the New Testament Ave learn that
the things given by the Father to the Son were all things AvMch the
Father himself possessed, and these Avere no other than the divine
attributes themselves, even to aU poAver in heaven aud on earth. These
things being in their nature diA'ine, are incommunicable ; they cannot
be transferred from one to another. Yet they are said to be given, and
therefore also received. This can be understood only in one way, U
Ave are to have any consistent vicAV of the suliject. The Father and
the Son are the divhie and human natures in the person of the Lord :
and the divine attri'outes Avere given by the Father to the Sou, as the
soul gives its attributes to the body, but Avhich, though given, are not
transferred. The Lord's commg from God and going to God must be
understood in the same manner. The human came from the Divine
by conception, and returned to the Divine by glorification. No other
proceeding and returning are possible Avitli God. We may, in
deed, speak of the Divine Avisdora coming forth from the Divine
love, and returning into the bosom of the Divine love again, but this is
not. a different but oidy a more interior vicAv of the same divine truth.
4. He lisetli from supper, and lead aside his garments, and taketh
a towel and girdeth himself. As everything which the Lord did
was representative, his AvasMug the disciples' feet has a high and holy
significance, in reference to the church and its members in all ages.
As he himself Avas now about to be glorified as to the very ultimates
of his humanity, and so return to God from Avheuce he came ; this
washing of the disciples' feet Avas designed to signify, that his great
work Avas to provide for the purification and regeneration of the ulti
mate prmciples of humanity in the members of his mystical body, the
church. Before the Lord's incarnation and glorification, human nature
could not be regenerated as to the natural principle. Not tUl this
principle had been glorified in the Lord could it be regenerated in man.
The possibUity of this work being effected under the gospel dispensa
tion, Avas represented by the Lord's washing his disciples' feet. TMs

312 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIII.
act was an assurance, that now the Lord's regenerating operations could
descend to the lowest and most degraded part of human nature, aud by
this means save man unto the uttermost. But we must look at this
subject iu relation to ourselves individually ; for only as a matter of
exjierience can it be realized in our salvation. In order to wash his
disciples' feet the Lord arose from supper. The disciples su2jping
with their Saviour, implies the iuAvard reception from him of spiri
tual truth and good, by Avhich the soul is nourished. And Avheu
good from the Lord is inwardly received, the Lord, as our supreme good,
rises, or is elevated, into the Mgher affections of the heart. He lays
asiiie his upper garments, and taketh a towel, or linen cloth, and girdeth
himseU. As Jesus Avas uoav about to perform one of the loAvest
duties of a servant, he laid aside the garment that belonged to
him as the Lord and Master of his disciples, and assumed the ves
ture that Avas suited to his humble office. This was a representative
sign of Avhat Avas about to be effected iu his oaa'u person. The office
and the garment Avhich .Jesus uoav assumed represented the A'ery lowest
degree and use of the humanity he Avas about to put on from his
diA'inity, and thus clothe himself for eA'er Avith a medium, through
Avhicli he might communicate his love and truth to his creatures, m
their loAvest states aud most extreme necessities. The higher the
Lord ascends, the loAver he descends, both in his own glorification and
in man's regeneration. The higher the Lord rises in our affections, the
lower he comes doAvn into the words and actions of our lives. When
his eternal truth had failed to reach mankind, m the low and degraded
state to which they had descended, he assumed that degree of truth
A-.hich was adapted to their state aud to the necessities of their con
dition. Considering the Lord as the Word, Ms garments represent
the literal sense ; and this contains truths of various kinds, suited to
the different and changing states of the disciples. The toAvel or linen
cloth, Avith AvMch the Lord girded himself Avhen he Avashed his dis
ciples' feet, is the fine linen, clean and white, Avhich is the righteous
ness of saints. But the righteousness of saints is the Lord's righteous
ness; for he is Righteousness itself, and all the righteousness ofthe samts
is from him. It is not imputed to them by a mere act of faith, but it
is wrought into them by a lUe of obedience. It may seem indeed as if
obedience were righteousness, and therefore self-acquired ; but no one
can live a life of obedience, that can be called righteous, but by the
poAver and influence of him Avho is Righteousness itseU, and indeed by
the power aud influence of him who became Righteousness, by fulfill
ing his OAVU laAV of righteousness in all its perfection.

Chap, XIIL] ST. JOHN. 313
5. "When Jesus had girded himself, then he poureth wcder into a bason,
and began to wash the disciples' feet, und to wipe them with the towel
-wherewith, he was girded. The Lord pours Avater into the bason when
his truth floAvs from Mmself, as its source, into the faculty of the
human miud, which Avas originally created, and is now prepared by
regeneration, to receive it. This faculty is the human understanding.
With the Avater here received, the Lord begins to Avash the disciples'
feet. The feet of the body are ;ynibolical of the loAvest degree of the
human miud. The lowest or most external degree of the mind consists
of the natural affections and appetites, AA'hich, being nearest to, and
immediately connected Avith, corporeal and earthly things, become
soUed by their contact Avith the outer Avorld. Not only is this
the case with the careless and impenitent ; the pilgrim in his journey
tMough life contracts impurities Avhich require to be washed aAvay.
But the hnpurities from which the Christian disciple needs to be
washed are not, properly speaking, evil deeds. One Avho has any claim
to the character of a Christian has ceased to live an evil life, or to
commit mtentional evil, and sins not, except as the result of human
infijmity. . Purification from such outAvard evils Avas represented by
baptism, which, Avith the disciples, was administered at the beginning
of the religious life. The Avashing of the feet, which the Lord per
formed at the end of the first period of their disoipleship, represented,
not the purification of the lUe from evU works, but the ijurifioation of
the Avorks from evil motives. The evU Avhich adheres to the good
deeds of the Christian are the evils of merit and self-righteousness.
This wUl appear still more clearly if we regard the disciples as repre
senting, not only the persons Avho are being regenerated, but the princi
ples by which regeneration is effected. These principles in the hu
man mind become soiled by contact Avith the impure aff'ections, thoughts,
and acts of our corrupt nature ; and they require to have these im
purities removed before they can be fully operative, as agents in the
Lord's hand, for effecting the regeneration of the Christian disciple.
When he had Avashed the disciples' feet, he Aviped them Avith the
toAvel wherewith he was girded. The Avater and the toAvel, the Avash
ing and A^•iping of the feet, point to that completed purification Avhioli
is effected by the united operation of the Lord's truth and goodness.
Tmth is that by Avliich the cleansing is commenced, and the good of
truth is that by which it is completed. Tmth is the water Avith Avhich
the feet of the disciples are Avashed ; the good of truth, AvMch is right
eousness, is the linen cloth Avith Avhich they are Aviped.
6. In the Lord washmg the disciples' feet, then cometh he to Peter,

314 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIIL
who saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet ? Peter, as the type
of the faithful, and of the grace of faith itself in the mind, appropriately
asks this question. The question of the apostle, besides expressing
humility, impUes obscuiity and dirabt. Peter's conduct expresses aud
represents that of a true but imperfect disciple, and of a sincere but
imperfect faith. ,He does not refuse, as he afterwards did, to have
his feet washed. He utters an exclamation of astonishment, that Jesus
should be so condescending as to propose, and that he shoMd be so
presumptuous as to accept his offer, to wash the feet of one so lowly
and uuAvorthy. But his mind is obscure as to the use of such a cere
monial, to regard it as such ; and a doubtful inquiry as to the meaMng
of such an act is involved in the question he ventures to propose.
Peter does not indeed directly ask a reason for the Lord's offered act'
of humble service, but his tiuestion includes a desire for it. It con
tains an objection to his Lord performing an act so far beneath the dig
nity, AA-hich even his disciples, in their yet obscure state, were disposed to
assign to him, but it expresses also a Avillingness joyfuUy to yield sub
mission to his Master's avUI, Avhen a reason is given for the act.
7. Jesus ansioered and suid unto him. What I do thou knowest not
now; but thou slicdt know hereafter. This ansAver to Peter's question
is not such a one as he desired and expected, but it is such a one as he
needed. It expresses a truth Avhich it is needful we should, in this
and in many other things, act upon. Many acts of providential and
saving mercy are mscrutable to us at the time, and can only be seen as
the future of our advancing Avisdom and experience unfold thera to us.
The wisdom of experience should teach us to confide in the Lord, even
Avhere Ave cannot clearly see the wisdom or the special purpose of Ms
operations. But hoAv often do we neglect to learn this most salutary
lesson, as Peter did !
8. Peter saith unto him. Thou shalt never wash my feet. No doubt
the apostle objected to the Lord Avashing his feet, principally because
he regarded it as an act of condescension too great for him to perform.
But all such ideas conceal Avithin them a repugnance to the nature ofthe
act and its intended consequences. "'"When the disciple objects to the
Lord's washing his feet, it is partly because, hoAvever unaAvare he may
be of the fact, he is uiiAvilling to have thera Avashed, because he is not
sufficiently impressed Avitli the necessity of complete purification, as a
condition of eternal life. This lesson our Lord proceeds to eMorce
upon his reluctant disciple. Jesus answered him. If I wash thee not,
thou hast no part with me. This positive statement of the absolute
necessity of purification, is worthy of our most serious attention.

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 315
Without the Avashing ofthe heart from Avickedness and the Ufe from sin
there is no salvation. Evident is it from this, that this Avashing Avas
a symbolical act ; for the Avashing of the disciples' feet could contribute
nothing to their preparation for heaven. But Avithout the purification
of the life from the poUution of sin, there can be no salvation. There
is no Avashing but that AA'hich the Lord performs that can save us.
-Not onl}' raust Ave be Avashed, but Ave must be Avashed by the Lord.
He is the author of purification. He is also the pattern of purification;
for the purification of man is an image of that Avhich his oavu humanity
experienced. It is this counectiou betAveen the Avork in him and the
work in us that makes our salvation consist in having a part with him.
9. When the truth, that if the Lord Avashed him not he could have
no part with him, Avas brought home to his mind, Simon Peter saith
unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hunds und. my head. From
objecting to any vA'ashing, Peter goes at once to the opposite extreme
of Avisliing to have his Avhole body purified. This certainly is expressive
of the earnestness of the apostle to be aU that AA'as necessary for having
a part AA'ith his Saviour. But it also implies, what it representatively
expresses, obscurity and confusion of ideas as to the distinction
wMch e.x:ists between the internal and external man, and thus betAveen
the iuAvard principles and outward duties of religion, between the
graces of the miud and the virtues of the life. This distinction should
be knoAA'u, not merely as the means of accurate thinking, but as a
means of right acting. These Iavo are designed to be one ; but we
cannot inteUigently stiiA'e after their union, till Ave knoAv and under
stand the nature of their distinction. The Avant, or at least the
imperfect knowledge or perception, of this distinction is implied, both
in Peter's refusal to let the Lord Avash his feet, and his deshe that he
shoMd Avash, not his feet only, but his hands and his head.
10. But Jesus saith unto Mm, He that is washed needeth not save to
wash his feet, but is clean every whit. The purification Avhich the
Lord's act represented was not general but special. That Avliich the
present Avashing represented was the purification of the external man,
meant by the apostles' feet, not the purification of the internal man,
signified by theh hands and theh head. In the disciple who has
foUowed the Lord m the regeneration thus far, the internal ¦ has
already been purified, and nothing iioav remains to complete the
work of regeneration but to bring the external into a corresponding
state of purification, that the inferior may act as one with the superior,
and so make of the tAvain one entire and perfect man. The first
part of this purification the disciples generally, and Peter in par-

316 ST. JOHN. [Cuap. XIIL
ticular, had already undergone. There Avas but one Avho had not
passed through this process ; who had not Avashed his heart from
Avickedness, and that one Avas Judas. Therefore our Lord added, und
ye are clean, but not all.t Judas, we may suppose, Avas on this occasion
Avashed Avith the others, but when the inner man is unclean, the
Avashing of the outer man effects nothing. If Ave consider the disciples
as the types of principles in the mind of the regenerate, then we see
m this declaration of our Lord a revelation of the humbling truth, that
even Avhen the internal is clean, there is a ptxrt of the external Avliich is
stiU the seat of deadly impurity, the Judas of the human heart, through
Avhic'n the last temptation comes, by Avhich that evil is put off, as Judas
Avas separated from the rest, though not until he hatl delivered the Lord
into the hands of his enemies. As the last temptation, like that of our
Lord, is the greatest, so the greatest and deepest evU is sthred up for
bringing it about ; rather, it is brought about by the deepest evil
of the selfhood being excited by the poAvers of darkness for that
end. 11. Fur he knew who should betray him, therefore he said, Ye are
not all clean. In the Lord's foreknoAvledge of Avho it Avas that should
betray him, Ave haA'e an instance of what he does universally m regard
to the states of men. The Lord's foreknoAAdedge extends to aU men,
the evil as Avell as the good. It is by this that he is able to provide
for all, and to bring the best possible results out of the worst possible
chcumstances. Evil itself, in its activity, is of divine permission, but
the law of providence is, that a less evil is permitted to prevent a
greater. The Lord stiU knoAvs who shall betray Mm. From his
divine order the Lord sees not only all in the universe that is m order,
as being from and in harmony Avith himself, but all that is in disorder,
as bemg the inversion and the opposite of what proceeds from himseU.
For evU, as the root of disorder, is not an independent production or
separate existence. It is the abuse and perversion of good, not the past
perversion of a past good, but the present and continuous perA'ersion
of a present good. The evil could not exist Avithout the good. Good
flows from the Lord as a constant stieam, and all evU is the constant
perversion of this good ; and as the evil is constantly reacting agamst the
good-, the good cannot but see and be otherAvise sensible of the evU.
The foreknoAvledge of God is no doubt diflficMt for us in auy measure
to comprehend. We can see that infinite Avisdom must kuoAv aU thino-s.
And wMle from his divine truth he sees its opposite, the opposite is
not permitted to operate against it farther than to effect its glorifica
tion. It is enough for us to knoAv this, and adore. In regard to the .

Chap. XIIL] ' ST. JOHN. 317
regenerate man, the general knoAAdedge is imparted to him that he is
not AvlioUy clean, although he may not as yet know Avliere the unclean
ness lies, a knoAvledge avMcIi is only revealed to him by seU-examina-
tion and temptation.
12. When the Lord had Avashed his disciples' feet, and had taken
his garments, and. sut down again, he said unto them. Know ye whcd
I have done to you ? In all probability they only thought of their
Lord's act as one of great coudesceusion, or at most as an initiatory
rite, by Avhich they became entitled to a place in his temporal kingdom.
His question Avas intended to produce other reflections, and prepare
them for receivmg the spiritual lesson he intended for them. He had
told Peter that Avhat he was about to do he could not then kiioAV, but
would knoAv thereafter. He uoav prepares the disciples for the know
ledge which he had promised them. Many of the merciful operations
of AvMch the Christian disciple is the subject can only be explained to
him after he has been the subject of them. OutAvard revelation comes
alike to all ; iuAvard revelation conies only to those whom the outAvard
revelation has prepared to receive it. Experience is the true teacher.
KnoAv ye Avhat I have done to you? is the Lord's question to the
disciples noAv as it Avas then. This is intended to lead them to reflect
on his purpose, Avhich is the real meanmg of the act ; for Ave know
not what the Lord has done to us until we know Avhat his act teaches
us to do, which he uoav proceeds to point out. There is some resem
blance of this act of the Lord to that of the Jewish priest removing
the ashes of the altar. When the priest did so he laid aside Ms ordi
nary garment and put on one of linen ; after having comp]'..'ted the
duty, he resumed his ordinary habit. So did the Lord Avhen he had
removed the dust from the feet of the disciples.
13. Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
To caU Jesus Master and Lord is to acknowledge him as Teacher and
Ruler, as the supreme Truth and Good. And as Ave are to caU no
man our master, for one is our Master, even Christ; so is Jesus,
supreme and alone, our authority in all matters of faith and practice, iu
everything relating to spiritual and eternal hfe. But the point AA'hich
the Lord here emphasizes is one of great importance. "Ye call me
Master and Lord." And he tells them that they said so rightly.
But he proceeds to tell them that they Avere uoav to do more than call
him so. It deserves our attentive consideration that whUe the Lord
displays in his conduct toAvards his disciples the gretxtest condescension,
he yet asserts his claim to their homage. WhUe he assumes the office
and performs towards them the duties of a servant, he declares himself

318 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIIL
theh Lord and Master. It is not less deserving of our attention, that
he does not assert this claira, as the natural man does, for the purpose
of exalting himself, but for the purpose of humbling them.
14. // / then, your Lord and Master, have washed -your feet, ye
cdso ought to wash one another's feet. Here is the great and blessed
lesson Avliich his disciples were to learn frora their Lord and Master
having washed their feet. The ceremonial act which the Lord had
performed Avas to teach them that the spiritual feet-Avashmg is the
Christian's passage from the theory to the practice of religion — from
saying to doing. " If I your Lord and Master have washed your
feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet." The Lord's blessings
are dispensed, not that the}' may remain with those who receive them,
nor CA-en that they raay be returned to him in direct acknowledgment,
but that they may descend, and carry their blessed influence to those
Avho require them. Every blessing Avhich the Lord bestows must
descend to the lowest sphere of activity and usefulness, before it can
ascend and return to him again. Unless his Word completed this
circle of order, it would return unto Mm void, Avithout accomplishing
that whereto he sent it, and effecting that which he pleases (Is. Iv. 11).
Every purified disciple must help on the purification of Ms brethren ;
and not less must he cause the purification, which has been begun in
himself, to descend to the lowest degree of his mind and acts of his
life, that he may be whoUy clean. If, therefore, the Lord has washed
our feet ; how ought Ave to transmit his blessing to others, that Ave
may be like Mm, ever labouring to promote the improvement and
happiness of others. This turning of the mind and life from the
theoretical to the practical in religion is an inversion of state. In the
former state truth is in the first place and good in the second ; in the
latter state, good is in the first place and truth in the second. This
is indicated in the Lord's Avords. In the previous verse he says, " Ye
call me jMaster and Lord ;" in the present sense, he speaks of himself
as their Lord and Master. He is our Master and Lord, Avlieu, in our
minds, Ms truth is before his good ; he is our Lord aud Master, Avhen
his good is before his truth.
15. The Lord proceeds further to say. For I have given you an e-x-
ampjle, thut ye should do as I have done to yuu. The Lord Avas indeed
au example to us in all things ; but his example is much more than
an outward pattern for our imitation. Our AA'hole religious life and
experience is an image of his. Iu Avhatever Ave do Ave can but follow
Avhere he has led. The Incarnation was the doing of Avliat the Lord
had taught before it. It Avas to bring doAvn his truth into deed that

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 319
he came doAvn into the world. The Word made flesh was the em
bodiment of, the eternal principles of good and truth in fulness, that
they might be embodied in human action and experience; for the
Lord thereby became what he desires and requires us, in our measure,
to becorae.16. As a reason for our imitating him, he says. Verily, verUy, I suy
unto you. The servant is not greater than his lord ; neither he tlud is
sent greater tha.n he that sent him. If the servant is not greater
than his lord, he cannot claim or expect to be exempted from the
duties which his lord takes upon himself The Christian disciple
must therefore do as Jesus Christ himself has done. In the spiritual
sense, the Lord here teaches the duty and necessity of the external
being subservient to the mternal ; and that it may be truly so it must
do as the internal has done. Truth also is subservient to good, and is
sent of good; for truth proceeds from good, as' thought does from
affection. If Ave regard external, as more to us than internal things, if
Ave regard truth as raore than good, faith raore than charity, we sphit
uaUy place the servant above his lord, and make him that is sent
greater than him that sent Mm. We must, to be true disciples, place
these principles in their true order, both in doctrine and in practice.
17. If ye know these things, hupp)y are ye if ye do them. Great
is this truth, and blessed are they who realize it ! In aU things,
as weU as in this particular lesson, this is the rule of right conduct,
and the Avay to true happiness. Needful indeed is it to knoAv the
thmgs which relate to spiritual and eternal life, for without knoAvledge
there can be no intelligent action ; but action is the end of all knoAV-
ledge. And not only is it our duty, but it is our happiness also, to do
as Ave knoAv. The laws of God, as rules of conduct, have happiness
as theh reward. The reward is in the Avork. Happiness arises from
right action, as the fruit of right principles. What are the things,
the dohig of which brings happiness ? KnoAviug that the Lord is our
example, true happtiness consists in doing as he has done.
18. Jesus had said to his disciples, "Ye are clean, but not all."
The exception was Judas, who, the Lord kncAv, should betray liim.
He UOAV leturns to this, and says, I specdc not of you all ; I know
whom I have chosen : but, thcd the scripture muy be fulfilled. He thut
euteth breud with me hath lifted up his heel against me. We have
seen (10, 11) that Judas represented the corrupt selfhood of
man. Specifically, he represented the loAvest or corporeal principle of
human nature, through which our Lord's last and severest temptation
came. This principle, Avitb tho.se Avithin the church, perverts the

320 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIIL
truth, and betrays it into the hands of its open and avowed enemies,
iu and out of the church, as Judas betrayed Jesus into the hands of
" sinfM men," to be spit upon, buffeted, and put to death. This
principle of human nature is not capable of being made clean ; but
the regenerate man is elevated above it, so as to be no longer drawn
down by it, and so immersed in earthly and sensual things. When
therefore the Lord said, " I speak not of you aU," he intimated that
his cleansmg does not extend to all the principles of human nature,
but only to those he has " chosen," which means, to all that aUoAv
themselves to be draAvn into conjunction with himseU; for the
Lord's choice is in aU instances, both Avith persons and principles,
determined by their quality ; be chooses the good and refuses the
evil. Judas remained unclean, " that the Scripture might be fuUUled,
He that eateth bread Avith me hath lifted up his heel against me."
'Ihe testimony of Divine truth teaches this truth, which was repre
sented by the conduct of Judas. In the general sense Judas repre
sented the JeAvish church, the bread which he did eat with Jesus being
the heaveMy bread, Avhich had been provided iu the Scriptures of truth,
for feeding the souls of the members of that dispensation ; but not-
Avithstanding they Avere fed with the bread of God, they opposed
themselves to him, especially as he appeared iu the person of Jesus,
directing against him the very lowest and bitterest feelings of their
degraded nature. He that unworthily eats the Lord's bread and body,
lifts up his heel against him. The heel is the loAvest degree of the
corporeal principle of man's nature. When this principle is lifted up
above the spiritual and celestial principles of the mind, it is lUted up
against the Lord, being opposed to all that is heavenly and divine.
19. The Lord shows Ms disciples, not only from fuUiUed, but from
yet unfulfilled prediction, what they are to beUeve. Now I tell you
befo're it come, that, when it is come fo pass, ye may believe thcd I am
he. He does not indeed ask them to beUeve for the prediction, but
he gives-them the prediction that they may beheve through its fulfil
ment. Future states, like future events, can only be believed when
they exist. We truly believe the Lord to be our Saviour oMy Avhen
we are saved. We cannot indeed be saved Avithout faith ; but it is not
tUl his words are verified in our experience that Ave truly believe hi
him. When the things which he has told us before have thus come
to pass, then " ye may believe that I am he."
20. When religion has become a matter of experience, the mind
ascends from the lower degrees of truth to the higher, and even to the
liighest. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that reeeiveth. ivhomsoever

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 321
1 send, receivefh me ; and he that receivefh me, reeeiveth him that sent
me. Naturally understood, this means that those Avho received the
apostles received Jesus ; and those Avho received Jesus received the
Father who sent him. By this we are instructed that Jesus and the
Father are one ; the F'ather being in the Son as the Son is in the
disciples, according to the Lord's words, " I in them and thou in nie."
Not that there is a simUarity, but a correspondence. The Father is in
the Sou personaUy, and therefore infinitely ; the Lord is iu the dis
ciples by mflux, and therefore finitely ; for the humanity of the Lord
receives the divmity Avithout measure, but the humanity of the disciples
receives the divinity of the Lord according to their limited aud vary-
mg capacities. But in the internal sense, the Son is the divine truth
proceedmg from the divine good, and the apostles are the prmciples of
truth and good proceeding from the Lord, as we possess and understand
them. The loAver not only reveal, but contain, the higher. And he
Avho tridy receives even the lowest, receives iu it all that it contains,
AvMch AvUl be unfolded as he becomes regenerated. This wiU be effected
progressively both in this world and in the next. If avc consider it
in reference to the W^ord, the apostles represent the truths of the literal
sense, and Jesus and the Father are divine truths in tbe sphitual and
celestial senses. He who receives the truth as it is in the letter of the
Word, receives also the truths of the tAvo higher senses ; and although
they may not be developed, stUl they are there, and sanctify the loAver
by theh presence. If we consider it in reference to the church ; he
Avho receives the truth as it is in the clim-ch, receives in it the truth as
it is in heaven, mto which he wUl come Avheu he passes out of this
world into the next.
21. 'When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled -in spiirit, and tes
tified, and said. Verily, verily, I say unto you. That one of you shall
betray me. Understanding this in its spiritual sense, and in reference
to CMistian progress and experience, we learn from it that the soul's
ascent from the lower to the higher degrees of truth and spiritual de
velopment is not effected without conMot. The Lord was no doubt
actuaUy troubled in spirit, not simply at the contemplation of the
treachery of Judas aud the suffering of the cross, but because the in
ward conflict with the powers of darkness, to be foUoAved by their
more open and -vigorous assault, had already begun. If, considering
the disciples as representing the church, Judas was typical of those of
its professed members who crucify the Lord afresh, and are inwartUy
devUs, which they afterAvards opeMy appear, the Lord's angmsh of
spirit will express the mourning of his love over every lost one ; for it
X

322 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIIL
is Ms desire that all should be saved ; and Ms redemption mcludes aU
Avithm its Avide embrace.
22. Tlien fhe discipiles looked on one another, doubting of whom he
spake. Well might they look upon one another at this starthng ah-
uouiicement ; and Avell might they doubt of Avhom he spake ; for which
of them, except the traitor himself, could imagme it possible that any
one (ff them could think of betraying so Ijlessed a Master ? But Avhat
are we to understand the meaning of this to be iu regard to ourselves ?
TMs looking of the disciples on one another is expressive of self-exa
mination — looking into our oavu thoughts, and through these mto our
affections ; for the disciples represent principles in one mind. Such
examhiation is attended Avith doubt as to Avhere the evU lurks. "V\^hen
Ave are assured by divine Avisdoni that our hearts are evil above all
things, and desperately wicked, Ave may consent to the tmth, but we
cannot realize it tUl experience makes it manUest. But when Ave are
told of any particular evU of a desperate character that we inherit, and
may be guUty of, Ave naturally doubt that it can haA'e au abiding
place Avithin us. When Ilazael Avas told by the prophet of the cruel
ties he Avould commit Avhen he had become king of Syria, he ausAvered,
"Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thmg?" (2 Kings vih.
13.) The trouble Avliich the disciples felt Avas the trouble Avhich
Jesus expierienced now communicated to them. "When angmsh seizes
upon the interior of the mind, it descends mto the exterior also,
though it is there felt at first as an undefined evU, whose origm aud
operation are yet undiscovered.
23. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom
Jesus loved. Self-examination, Avhen the thoughts only look one upon
tinother, leads the mind into doubt, which cannot be removed but by
lookhig Mgher, even to the Lord himself, for a solution of the ditficMty.
But the Lord can only be approached by mediums ; the supreme Good
and Truth can only be reached through goods and truths of a loAver
degree. The highest of these mediums is the good of love to the Lord.
This was represented by John, who, for that reason, leaned ou Jesus'
bosom. The bosom of Jesus is the divine love itself; and "he who
dweUeth m love dAvelleth in God and God hi him.'' .Jesus is said to
have loved the disciple who reclined ou Ms bosom. Not that the Lord
does not love aU his disciples, and even all the human race ; but he
is said to love those in Avhom Ms love chveUs. Ail are the objects of
his love ; those Avho ai'e the recipients of his love are the disciples Avhom
Jesus loves, aud who lie m his bosom ; for love is sphitual conjunc
tion. In the abstract sense it is love in the disciple tMough which

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 323
he has immediate conjunction Avith the Lord, and therefore throu"h
Avhich he has immediate communion Avith him.
24. But there is a loAver grace by Avhich the mind ascends through
this to the Lord. That grace is faith, and Avas represented by Simon
Peter. Simon Peter, therefore, beckoned to him, thut he shoidd usk
ivho it should be of whom he spake. Wlien this disciple is caUed Simon
Peter, it expresses faith more mtimately connected Avith love. Peter
beckonhig to John to ask Jesus is expressive of an act of the mind, by
Avhich it looks from faith through love, to receive from the Lord a
revelation of that Avhich deeply concerns it, to knoAV what and where
the eA'U is, of Avhich the Lord speaks of as his betrayer.
25. He then, lying on Jesus' breust, saith. unto him. Lord, who is it?
ilomentous question. In regard to the disciple, m the progress of Ms
sphitual Ufe, the question means. What in me is it that is traitor to
t.hee ? Hoav shaU I know the traitor in my oavu heart ?
26. Jesus answered. He it is to whom I shall give u sop, when I have
dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas
Iscariot, the Son of Simon. The sop of Avhich Jesus spake Avas the
morsel Avhich he, Avho piresided at the feast of the passover, dipped m
the vessel containing the bitter herbs. And as the bitter herbs eaten
Avith the paschal lamb Avere symbohcal of temptation, with which the
reception of sphitual good is attended, and by Avhich its appropriation
is effected, the giving of the sop to Judas was an appropriate act, by
which the disciples were to discover him of Avhom the Lord spake..
Temptation is that Avhich, m Christian experience, makes the evU of the-
heart maMfest. This is the use of temptation, and that for Avhich it is per
mitted; and its permission Avas represented by Jesus givmg Judas the sop.
27. And after the sop Satan entered into Mm. At verse 2 it is said
that the devil had put it mto the heart of Judas to betray Jesus ; here
it is said that Satan entered mto Mm. The devU is the name for
sphits who are actuated by the love of evU ; Satan is the name for those
who are actuated by the love of falsity. The stages of the progress of
wickedness are in tMs expres.sively pointed out. Fhst evU enters
mto the heart, prompting it to sin, then falsity enters into the under
standing, pleading the justification of evU, and devising the means of '
committing the sm. EvU may enter as an impulse mto the heart Avith
out our mcurrmg guUt ; but when it is confirmed by false reasonings m
the understandmg, it oMy wants the opportimity and the immediate
temptation to become sin Temptation is mduced by evU spirits.
They enter into and excite the ca'Us of the heart, which rise up m the
form of concupiscence, prompting to the commission of sm. This is

324 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIII
the Christian's opportunity for resisting, and by resisting of overcoming,
and thereby removing, the evU from Avhich the concupiscence springs.
"When the evU is excited it may, it is true, be confirmed by perverse
reasonings, iu which case the evil becomes sin. But this is the faMt
of the person in whom the evU resides. AU the disciples must have
partaken of the bitter herbs, even as they Avere to taste the bitterness
of the temptation that awaited them. Although they stumbled at the
cross of CMist, none of them by transgression fell as Judas did. His
sin was entirely different from thehs. Judas deliberately betrayed his
Master ; aU the others were themselves betrayed by theh yet imcon-
quered love of self aud the world. They did nothing to take away the
Lord's lUe; they were only unprepared as yet to lay doAvn their oavu. The
trial, therefore, to Avhich Judas was subjected was not pecuhar to Mm.
Temptations are common to aU Christian disciples. They are the bitter
Avaters of Marah, where the Lord proves his people (Exod. xv. 25). Those
Avho cannot overcome temptation cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It
was no doubt to teach us this solemn and useful lesson, that the incident
took place and Avas recorded of Judas coming under the dommion of Satan,
after receiving the sop. One purpose for Avhich Satan Avas permitted to
enter mto Judas was that the Lord's work might be finished, and that
Ms fmished work might provide for the conquest of aU evU, and of hell
as the exciting cause of evU. The evU which became active hi Judas
was, or at least represented, the greatest and most direfM evil that can
dwell in the human heart ; and it Avas necessary that this evU should
be brought into action, and directed against the Lord MmseU; for
unless such had been the case, redemption Avould not have gone to the
lowest depths of sin, nor overcome the deepest malignity of the kmg
dom of evU. The Lord's giving Judas the sop Avas not to expose him
to the assault of Satan. It was only an outAvard act typical of an
inward operation that AA'as going on in the mind of that disciple ; for
the bread given hmi by Jesus was a sj-mbol of the good which the
Lord gives to feed the soul, while the dish m wMch he dipped it
represented the natural mind, containing the bitter herbs of its own
depraved nature, in which the inflowing good of the diAine love
becomes immersed, and by which it becomes changed into the bread of
sorrows. When he had given him the sop. Then Jesus said unto him.
That thuu doest do quickly. What the Lord commands is not alAvaj's
of his Avill ; it is sometimes only of his permission, as Avhen he com
manded Israel to slay the nations of Canaan. The Lord's command
also expresses the operation of Ms laws, and is often the reA'elation of
what wiU be, rather than of what he -wiUs to be. So in the present

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 325
instance. " What thou doest do quickly," speaks of AA'hat Judas woulcP.
do. And quickly enough he did Avhat Satan had now put into Ms-
heart to do. But quickly in the spiritual sense has no relation to time,
but to state. Quickly means certainly. And when the Lord uttered
these words he expressed the truth, that now nothing would be Avith-
liolden from corrupt man to do ; that now the end was certain, and
the bright beginning Avliich was to succeed it drew nigh. For while-
Ave are inclmed to regard his Avords as only pointing to the aAvfuL
reality of his passion, he himself looked through it to the glorious con
summation, his resurrection and ascension, and to the pouring out of
his Spirit from on high, by Avhich the world was to be regenerated, ami
the sin of Judas finally wiped out of the catalogue of human crimes.
28. Now no man cd the table knew for what intent he spake thus-
unto Mm. Those previously called disciples are noAV spoken of as
those who were at the table, the former title having relation to truth
and the present to goodness. Meat, and the table on Avhich it is placed,
have the same signification, with the distinction that the meat is the
internal, and the table is the external on which it rests. Those at
table are, therefore, those who are in conjunction and communion by a
common principle of goodness — goodness derived from the Lord, and
in Avhicli he is. But none of those at table kncAv for Avhat intent
Jesus thus addressed Judas. Those who are principled in good never
suspect evU ; and so far as any one thinks under the influence of good,
he thmks no evil of others. The Lord's words, moreover, do not of
themselves imply evil action, but oMy his desire that what Judas was
to do he slioMd do quickly. And none but the Lord knew what that
was which he was desired to hasten.
29. Although the disciples did not knoAv Avhat Judas was required
to do, they conjectured, and their conjecture was iu harmony with
their own character. For some of them thought, because Judas had the
bag, that Jesus hud scud unto him. Buy those things that we have need
uf against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
.ludas being the purse-bearer of the little brotherhood, suggested this
interpretation of the Lord's mysterious words. What this office of
Judas spiritually implies we have already stated. Money is the
symbol of knowledge ; and the memory is the receptacle in which it is
deposited, and from which it is draAvn forth when it is employed for
the uses of life, either in supplying the demands of the Mgher faculties
for tbe good things of love, or of the lower for the good things of
charity, which is to buy the things needed for the feast, or to give
sometliing to the poor. Judas ha-ving the bag, indicates that he re-

326 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIIL
presents those Avhose knowledge of divine and spiritual things is a
mere possession of the memory. The idea of the other disciples, that
the Lord meant that Judas should buy for the feast, or di.stribute to
the poor, implies that the true disciples of the Lord regard knoAvledge
as having no other legitimate end than use. But when, contrasted
Avith this sentiment of the eleven, Judas, as the bearer of tbe bag, is
called a thief, we are instructed that such as he haA'e no other than
a selfish end in the use of the knowledge they possess ; they appropriate
it to themselves, and cultiA'ate it for their own glory, Avithout respect to
the profit of the neighbour, or the glory of the Lord, to whom the
glory and merit of eA'erything good and useful should be ascribed.
30. He then, having received the sop, ircnf immediately out; and it
was night. Hoav impressive is this statement, hoAv impressive the
lesson it teaches ! This reception of the sop was but a sign of
Satan havmg entered into him, of his having admitted into Ms heart
the dreadful false principle, Avhich Satan inspired or rather excited.
Judas, notAvithstanding the devil had put evil into his heart, remained
in the piresence of the Lord, and in compciny with the rest of the dis
ciples ; but as soon as Satan entered into him he Avent out. What he
had admitted into his heart being iioav confirmed in his understanding,
he Avent out — out from the presence of the Lord and from the feUow-
sliip of the faithfM. He Avent out immeiliately. Immediately, like
suddenly, means certainly ; being ex]iressive of a deep and settled
confirmation of mind in the cherished evil, and a fixed determination
¦of the will to carry it out into act. .And it Avas night. Night spiri-
i;ually means a state of the understanding. The seasons, which are
-determined by varying degrees of heat and cold, are exp)ressive of the
A'arying states of the avUI ; but night and da}', AA'hich are determmed
by light and its absence, are expressive of the different and opjposite
states of the understanding. Night is mental and spiritual darkness.
It is therefore recorded that it Avas night Avheu Judas Aveut out. Then
indeed Avas it the night of the JcAvish church, Avliich Judas represented ;
but it is night Avith the sinner when the evil, Avhich that of Judas repre
sented, has taken entire and undisputed possession of the mind. He
.goes out from the presence of Him Avho is the light, into the darkness,
to do the deeds thereof
31. Therefore, when he was gone out, Jc.-^ius said, A'ow is the Son
of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. Noav that Judas had
gone out, Jesus spake exultingly of his glorification. He saAv in the
precipitate dejjarture of the traitor the certainty and proximate comple
tion of his great work, and in it the redemption of the human race.

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 327
But the Lord's exultation was expressive of the free expansion of his
love and truth among his disciples, when evil is removed from among
them ; when the saying is no longer applicable to them — " Now ye
are clean — but not aU." The uncleanness is removed, and the Son of
man is glorified in them, and God is glorified in him. Jesus, there
fore, speaks as if he Avere already glorified, not only because to him
aU the future is present, but because when evil is gone out from his
disciples, he is glorified in them. The Lord's glorification, as effected
m himself, was the making of his humanity divine, and this was
effected by the removal from it of every thing evil and finite inherited
from tiie virgin mother. W"'lieii these Avere gone out, then was the
Son of mail glorified. And God was glorified in Mm. The Lord's
glorification included tAvo great acts — the making of his humanity
divme, and the makmg of his divinity human. In him man is God
and God is man. ilanhood is raised up into Godhead, and Godhead
is brought doAvn into manhood. These are but Iavo coincident and
concordant effects of the same glorifying Avork. The one could not
take place Avithout the other. Every act of glorification brought the
divine down into the human, and raised the human up into the
divme. There was a perpetual ascending and descending — an ascend
mg of the human into the divine, and a descending of the divine
mto the human. It is from this ascent and descent in the Lord's
glorification that God has come down to man, and that man can be
elevated to God. Such is the glorification of Avhich the Lord speaks,
considered in relation to himself But considered in relation to his
disciples, it is to be understood in a corresponding sense. The Son
of man is the Lord as Divine Truth, and God is the Lord as Divine
Goodness. The Lord is glorified in his disciples when they receive
his tmth in fulness and purity ; and God is glorified in him when
they receive his goodness in his truth, or his love in his Avisdom, or
what is the same, when they receive his divinity in his humanity.
Tmth lived is truth glorified ; and in truth glorified good is realized.
So far as Ave Uve according to the truth, good enters into the truth,
and mto us through it. So that if the Son is glorMed in us, God is
glorified hi Him.
32. But there is another effect of this glorification of the Father in
the Son ; for the Lord proceeds to say. If God be glorified in Mm,
God shall also glorify him in himself, und shull struightwny glorify
Mm. The reciprocal work of making the human divine and the divine
human is stUl spoken of The glorification of the Father in the Son
is the subject of the pireoeding verse, the glorification of the Son in the

328 ST, JOHN, [Chap, XIIL
Father is the subject of this, " God shall glorify him in himself," This
was accomplished in the Lord, when the human Avas taken up into
the divine. The Father was glorified in the Son when the Lord had
made his humanity divine truth, and the Son Avas glorified in the
Father when the Lord made his humanity divine good. The Father
is glorified in the Son in the experience of the disciple, when he has
received the divine truth into his understanding, and lives according
to it ; and the Son is glorified in the F''ather Avhen the disciple has
elevated the divine tmth into his heart, and loves it with a love
inspired by the Lord from his divine love. To express it otherwise,
God is glorified in the Sou Avheii love is in our truth, and God glorifies
the Son of man in himself Avlien our truth proceeds from love. In
the first state Ave do good from truth, in the second state we do good
from love. God glorifies the Son in himself Avhen the truth we have
received iu the understanding is united Avitli good in the will ; for then
truth is no longer a law leading by obedience to goodness, but a law
proceeding from goodness to obedience ; no longer light directing us to
love, but love proceeding by light. The Lord, txfter saying that God
shall glorify him in himself, adds, " and shall straightAvay glorify him."
The certainty and completeness of the Lord's glorification is taught in
these words, meaning, that when the Father had glorified the Son iu him
self, then Avould the glorification of the Son be certaiu and complete.
This reciprocal and therefore complete glorification is further treated of
in the next chapter, Avhere Ave shall have occasion to speak of it again.
33. From speaking of himself he turns to his disciples. Little children,
yet u little while I um with ycni. Ye shcdl seek me : und as I said unto
the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say unto you. The
Lord now for the first time calls his disciples little chUdren. ChUdren
he had already called thera ; but they had uoav, by beconimg more
innocent, acquired more of the true character of those of Avhom it is
said, that of such is the kingdom of heaven. They had become httle
in their own eyes, and more and more comjiletely purged of the leaven
of hypocrisy and iniquity. But their innocence and trust in their
Lord was now to undergo a severe trial. The time Avas fast approach
ing Avhen he Avas to be taken aAvay from them. The " little AvhUe" he Avas
to be Avith them Avas a tirae and a state of joy and security. But when
that time was ended, they would seek the Lord as one Avhom they had
lost. Severely Avould they feel his absence. Yet it Avas expedient for
them that he should go away. One state, hoAvcA'er pleasing and pros
perous, cannot continue always. The Christian must go on unto per
fection, and perfection cannot be attained Avithout alternations of state.

Ch.\p, XIIL] ST, JOHN-, 329
The greatest change of state Avhich the Christian disciple can experience,
and the most severe trial he can undergo, were represented by those
on which the Lord's disciples were now about to enter. It was
passing through death into life. The Lord's sensible presence Avith
them was accordant with their sensuous state. He Avas about to die out
of theh sensual mind that he might rise again in their spiritual mind.
The events that took place in the Avorld without them Avcre correspon
dent with those which took place in the Avorld Avitliin them. These
were to foUow, for they are the image of the states through which the
Lord passed. When the Lord intimated that he Avas about to leave
them, he added, " And as I said unto the Jcaa's, Whither I go ye can
not come, so now I say unto you." The divine Teacher here instructs
his disciples, that they could not come where he Avas going in their
present state. He said this to them as he had said it to the JeAvs,
because as yet they were, like tbe Jcavs, in an external state of mind.
They could not come AA'hither the Lord Avas to go, but the Lord had
promised that he would come again to them and receive them unto
himself, that where he was there they should be also. They Avere uoav
indeed, reformed, but they required to be regenerated ; they Avere con
ceived ancAV, but they required to be born again, before they were fit
for the kingdom of heaven. The Lord had to go aAvay in the flesh and
come back in the spirit, before they could be born of the spirit, and
become spiritually united.
34. The Lord delivers a commandment to them, by obedience to
which they would be prepared to receive him at his coming. A new
commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another: as J huve
loved you, thai ye also love one another. W''hy AA-as this called a ncAv
commandment? It had been required by the old laAv that men
should love their neighbour as themselves (Lev. xix. 18). This com
mandment was UCAV, because, under the Christian dispensation, it Avas
to be done from a new principle and after a new pattern. Christians
are to love one another as spiritual and immortal beings, and from a
spiritual and eternal principle of action ; and they are to love one
another, not only as they love themselves, but as the Lord has loved
them. This marks the grand distinction between the mutual love of
Christians and that of the JeAvs, and of all others Avho know not or
receive not Christ. WhUe Ave Avere yet enemies to him, he loved us
Avith a pure disinterested love, and so far from loving us as he loved him
self, he gave himself for us. It is with a love like this that Christians
are to love one another. They cannot indeed love Avith the same
ardour and purity as the Lord loved and stUl loves them; but they can

330 ST, JOHN. [Chap. XIII.
strive to imitate him, and to reflect, in the innocence and usefrilness of
their lives, something of his human perfection. Their love can be a
likeness of his, and it can be no more. And it can be like his, be
cause they not only have his bright and smless example before them,
but they have his presence in them, with the love wherewith he has
loved them cA'cr ready to be shed abroad in their hearts, and his
Avord which requires only to have free course and be glorified. In
their measure all can receive and manifest this love. Nor need they
think hoAv it is possible for fraU and sinful creatures to imitate their
Saviour ; for it is not their oavu love, but his love in them that they
manifest. To say that we are unable thus to love, is in effect to say
that Jesus is unable to insjiire us with his love. "What he requires us
to do he gives us the poAver of doing. He gives us, therefore, power to
do the new commandment Avhich he gave unto us, that we love one
another, even as he loved us. Gratitude as well as duty demands our
willing however imperfect obedience.
35. WhUe obedience to this commandment is necessary to make us
disciples in the sight of the Lord, it is equally requisite to make us
disciples in the sight of men. By this shall all men know thut ye ure
my discipiles if ye huve love one to unother. This test of disciple-
ship is one that all men can apply, and which they cannot helji apply
ing. Many m.ay be unable to distinguish truth from error, but aU are
able to distinguish betAveen good and evU, love and hatred. The
reason of this is, that truth and error belong to the thoughts, and theh
quality is arrived at by a process of reasoning ; but good and evU be
long to the affections, aud their quaUty is known by an act of per
ception. The language of the affections is a universal language which
all understand. It is the only language of animals, of wMch they
have an intuitive knoAvledge. Human beings intuitively know
the diff'erence betAveen the sound of love and hatred; and as they
discern it in sound, so can they perceive it in action. Love, expressed
in Avord and deed, is the language of Christianity ; and by this sliaU all
men knoAv that we are the disciples of Jesus, that Ave have love one to
another. If Ave avouM at once honour our Lord, and do good to our
neighbour aud to ourLclves, Ave must cultivate mutual love, and en
deavour to love one another, even as our Saviour loved us. If this
new commandment were carried into life Avith auy degree of consis
tency and constancy, how beautiful a spectacle Avould the church pre
sent ! hoAv beneficial an infiuence Avould it exercise on the world Avith
out, and Avhat a blessed eff'ect would it have on the commuMon of the
faithful ! War and contention Avould cease, and the human family

Chap. XIIL] ST. JOHN. 331
would live as the cMldren of their heaveMy Father, peacefM sub
jects of the Prmce of peace.
36. The disciples do not seem to have fully appreciated the value
and blessedness of this lesson. Their faith AA-as as yet more active
than theh love ; and so Peter, by whom their faith Avas expressed and
represented, reverts to the Lord's declaration respecting Ms depar-
tui-e, AvMch had made a deeper impression upou them than the new
commandment he had given them. Simon Peter said unto him. Lord,
whither goest thou ? Jesus ansioered him. Whither I go, thou canst
not follow me now ; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. The dis
ciples Avere as yet ignorant of the real import of the Lord's declaration.
TMs question shows that they kncAv nothing Avhatever of the mystery
of redemption, but oMy thought of the Lord's gomg aAvay as a change
of place. The Lord does not answer Peter's question, although he no
doubt anticipated Ms purpose iu asking it, Avhich Avas that he might
foUoAv him. Future states cannot be revealed to those Avho have not
entered on them, or into which the Lord, as the way, the truth, and
the lUe, has not yet been manifested in their hearts and minds. It is
enough to be instructed iii the truth relating to themselves, " Whither
I go thou canst not foUoAV me uoav," and so receive the promise, " but
thou shalt follow me aftjrAvards." This is supposed to refer to the
disciples following Jesus, in becoming martyrs in his cause, Avhich
they were neither requhed nor prepared to be noAV, but afterAvards
woMd wiUingly become. But there AA'as a martj'rdom of another and
stUl raore -trying kmd, Avhich they Aveie then unprepared for, and
which they could not triumphantly endure until the Lord had suf
fered ; for the disciple could not lay doAvn the life of his self-hood
imtU the Lord had laid clown the life of his frail humanity. After
Avards, the disciple could follow his Lord through the gre.xt temptation,
and experience the great change from nature to spirit, from death unto
life. And then would be exhibited the fruits of that change, as
spoken of by the apostle, " "We knoAv that Ave have passed from death
unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John iii. 14). And here we
see the reason of the Lord's delivering, in connection with the sub
ject of his death and life, the ucav commandment, to love one
another, Avhielt is not very apparent from the literal sense.
37. The disciples Avere not, it Avould appear, satisfied Avith the
Lord's assurance of their inability to folloAv "uim. Simon Peter said
unto him. Lord, why cannot I follow thee now I I will lay clown my
life for thy scdce. As they did not know Avhither the Lord Avas going,
they could not know that they were unable to foUoAV him. But the

332 ST, JOHN. [Chap. XIV.
question and declaration of Peter express the state and character of
those Avho are as yet in faith without works, as indeed the event
showed ; for not only did Peter deny the Lord, but aU the others
forsook him and fled. Those who are yet in this speculative and per
suasive faith, are not disposed to believe in their inabUity to follow
the Lord whithersoever he goeth, or to doubt of theh being able to
lay down theh life for his sake. They feel that the spirit is wiUing,
but they have yet to learn that the flesh is Aveak.
38. To Peter's assertion, Jesus ansioered. Wilt thou lay down thy
life for my sake. Verily, verily, I say unto thee. The cock shall not
crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. The Lord here showed his pre
science. He, who kneAV what Avas in man, saAV mto Peter's inmost
soul, and kucAv how he would act in the trial that aAvaited him. Im
pressive is this lesson. Since Ave knoAv so little of our oavu hearts, it
shoAvs how humbly and meekly Ave should hear the words of the Most
High, when they tell us of our weakness and warn us of our danger.
In the spiritual sense, the Lord's words to Peter are addressed through
him to the church. The crowing of the cook is the announcement that
the night of the church is past, and that the raorning of a new dispen
sation has daAvned. Before the cock crew, was before the mormng
tAvilight had appeared. Peter's denying the Lord three times before
the croAving of the cock, represented the utter denial of the Lord in
the night of the expiring church, both at the time of the Lord's first
coming, and at the time of Ms second advent. The plenary deMal of
the Lord is expressed by the thrice that Peter denied Mm. As Peter
ri^presented faith, his defection was a representative exhibition of that
AvMch our Lord predicted, when he said, "When the Son of man
cometh shall he find faith in the earth ? " If Peter denied his Lord,
Avhere may faith be expected to be found ? But hoAv blessed a pros
pect does this dark prediction contain ! Peter indeed shoMd deny
his .Lord ; but after the dark sin, there is a bright prospect. The cock
is to croAV, and the morning of a ucav day is to daAvn, AvMch will bring
light and love to the sons of men.

CHAPTER XIV.

If the knowledge of God in Christ is the highest and most precious
knowledge that the church can possess or the Christian disciple acquhe,
this chapter is one of the most important that the Scriptures contain.

Chap. XIV.] ST. JOHN. 333
Jesus reveals himself more fully to Ms disciples than he has perhaps
done in any of his conversations with them. The chapter is a con
tmuation of the address he was delivering to them respecting his going
away, whither they could not then foUoAV him. His words now are
Avords of comfort, AA'Mch he shoAvs them they must seek through faith
in Mm.
1. Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in
me. Immunity or deliverance from mental trouble is to be found only
through belief m Jesus, and not only through belief in him, but through
beUef in Mm as God. " Ye believe iu God, believe also in me." It
is evident that Jesus here places himseU on an equality with God, aud
inculcates or demands the same belief m Him as that which men
directed to God. As God has no equal but himself, Jesus must be
God Mmself. But although he was God, aud therefore God alone,
there is yet a distmction between God and Jesus, or betAveen the
F'ather and the Son. This distmction is au important one, as our
Lord here evidently teaches. He says to his disciples, Ye believe m
God; but notwithstandmg this belief, they were in a state of ob
scurity, and were the subjects of tribulation. It was by believmg
also m Jesus, as they believed in God, that they were to escape or
surmount trouble. God is the divmity, pure and unmanifested ; Jesus
is the (UviMty clothed in humanity. It was not, therefore, by theh
beUef in God, but by their belief in God incarnate, that they were to
be secured from trouble of heart. If the Lord, as God, could have
given peace to the troubled heart of humanity, he needed not to have
come into the world. It was because he coMd not, as God, that he be
came Man. It is by belief in Jesus, as the manifested God, that men
obtam rest to their soMs, If, therefore, we woMd be saved from spiri
tual trouble, Ave must beUeve in Jesus as we believe in God.
2, The Lord proceeds to say. In my Father's house are many man
sions : if it were not so, I would have fold you. From the Father, the
Lord passes to the Father's house, as the place where the heart shall
experience no more trouble or sorrow. Heaven is the Father's house.
In the miUAidual, the Father's house is the regenerate heart, where the
Lord dAveUs with his love, or rather m Ms love, fir the Lord dwells
only m his oavu. In the abstract sense, love m the heart is itseU the
Father's house, the habitation where his honour dAvelleth. Under
stood of the heaven of angels, or the sphits of just men made per
fect, the many mansions are the mnumerable distinct habitations
where the elect reside. Heaven is not a promiscuous mMtitude, but
a most perfectly classified assembly, where every one has Ms oavu place,

334 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIV.
Ms own use, and his oavu reward. Hetxven consists of innumerable so
cieties, each formed of those Avho arem the common love ol'a particular
degree or principle of goodness. Like the church. Heaven is the mys
tical body of the Lord, the societies of Avhioh form its members and
organs, most perfectly fitted into each other, and forinmg one Grand
Man, one sublime harmony. This perfect arrangement of aU in heaven,
according to the degrees of perfection they have tittained, contributes to
the happiness, as it does to the order, Avhicli reigns tliere, for iu this
way aU tire assoei.i'.ed Avith their like, and all are iu the freest exercise
of their powers and the fullest enjoyment of theh delight. Our Lord,
after telling his disciples there were many mansions in his Father's
house, adds, " If it Avere not so I Avould have told you." AYhj- should
the Lord make this remark ? What Avas it to them, at this juncture, to
knoAV that there Avere many mansions in his Father's house ; and if i1
Avere not so, that he Avould have told thera? The Fatlier's house Avas
that to Avhicli he Avas uoav hastening, and the place where they Avere
soon to foUoAv him. Heaven was the end of his labour upon earth.
To lift up its everlasting doors, that he, as the king of glory, might go m,
to be foUoAved by the faithful upon earth, Avas the end of Ms Avarfare
and the fruit of his triumphs. But it Avas necessary for those, Avho were
to go forth to gather men into the Lord's house, both in the church
and in heav-en, to know that it had many mansions — that it was
not for the reception of the Jcavs only but of the GentUes, for those of
every tongue and people and nation, siuce men were to be gathered into
it from the east and the west, from the north and the south. TMs was
a truth Avhich the disciples required to know, but Avere slow to learn —
that as there were degrees of perfection on earth there Avere degrees of
eminence m heaven. As one star differeth from another star in glory,
so is the resurrection of the just. And tMs view is full of consolation
as AveU as of encouragement. That house Avliich includes all degrees
of glory, has mansions for the loAvest as Avell as for the highest. As on
earth, so in heaven, the hand cannot say to the foot, I have no
need of thee. This is an eternal truth, so consistent Avith the natm'e
of humaMty, that if it had not been so, the Lord would bave directly
declared it. There are many mansions m heaven ; there is room for
aU ; and a place for every one who sincerely desires to make it his
eternal home. But the Lord added, / go to prepare a plucc fur you.
Why did Jesus require to prepare, and hoAV did he prepare, a pkice for
his disciples ? Heaven Avas included in the Avork of redemption. The
Lord redeemed not only men but angels. The ordinatiou of heaven, as
well as tlie subjugation of heU, was the object and result of the Lord's

Chap. XIV.] ST. JOHN, 335
divine work in the flesh. The glorification of the Lord's humanity
effected a corresponding change in the state both of heaven and
the church. The preparation of heaven as a place for the redeemed
was completed by the Lord at his ascension, as the prepaiation of the
church, as a place for the redeemed, Avas completed by the Lord at his
resurrection. But place means state. And this our Lord prejiared.
3. And if I go und prepare u pluce fur you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may he also. The
Lord's coming again, to receiA'e his disciples into the place he had pre
pared for them, is consielered to mean his coming to remove them by
death to the mansions of heaven. This may be admitted as his mean
ing ; but it is not his Avhole meaMng. The Lord came again at the day
of Pentecost, Avhen he jioured out his Sphit from on high on his dis
ciples. This was the coming AvMch he several times promised to make ;
commg as the Comforter, Avho Avas to guide them into aU truth, and
bring aU he had said to their remembrance, and show them things to
come. TMs was a second coming, the completion of the first. But
the Lord makes a second coming of this kind to aU true disciples. He
came first as theh Instructor and then as their Enlightener, first as the
Teacher, and then as the Sphit, of Truth. TMs is the conung by which
the Lord receives the faithful unto Mmself, or by AvMch he draAvs them
mto sphitual conjunction Avith him. The Lord, m the best and high
est sense, takes Ms disciples unto himserf, Avhen he chaws them aAvay
from the love of themselves unto the love of hhn. The true and
rencAved discijjle is no longer Ms own, he is the Lord's. The Lord's
purpose m taking Ms disciples to MmseU is, that Avhere he is, there
they may be also. Not, strictly speaking, in the place, but m the
state where he is, does the Lord desire his disciples to be. If they
come mto his state, they will come mto his place as a necessary conse
quence. The Lord desires mdeed that his disciples shoMd find theh
home m heaven, but the heavenly state is a sure passport to the
heaveMy place. This is what aU the desires of divine love and aU the
operations of divme Avisdom unite to secme.
4, The Lord, after speaking of his departui'e, says to them. And
whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. There are tAvo kinds of
knowledge, especially in regard to divme and spiritual things, the
knowledge that is oi the memory and the knoAvledge that is of the
understanding and the heart — of science and of experience. The dis
ciples possessed one kmd of knowledge but not the other ; they kncAv
and they did not knoAV. The Lord had taught them that he must go
away unto the Father, and that they must foUoAV Mm. They knew

336 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIV,
the Avay also, as Ave shall see, and yet they did not know it. They
AA'ere in that state in which they saAV and heard, but understood not.
This is not to be considered simply to mean, that the disciples kneAV
that he was about to depart out of the world and return to the Father.
,By going to the Father the Lord meant the glorification of his
humanity, the union of his humanity Avith Ms divmity. His going was
not a change of place but a change of state, an elevation of the human
into the state of the divine.
5. Hence Thomas saith unto him. Lord, we know not whither thou
goest; amd how can we know the way ? This statement and question
Avere uttered by Thomas, because he represented those Avithm the
church who are of an external character, and judge of spiritual thing?
by the light of the world rather than by the light of heaven. Such,
therefore, knoAV not Avhere the Lord goes nor the way that leads tMther.
The principle of human nature Avhich he represents, the sensuous, as it
exists in every disciple, asks the same question, Avhen the Lord makes
the assertion that drew forth the words of Thomas.
6. The Lord ansAvers the question of Thomas by saying unto him,
1 am the way, the truth and the life : no man coineth unto the Father
hut by me. Jesus himself was the Avay, which he truly said the disciples
kneAV, though they hardly yet knew in what respect he was so. That
A\hicli the Lord noAv dehvers is a great truth, one of the greatest in
the Ncav Testament. How is it to be understood ? Jesus is the Avay ;
no one can come to the Father but by him. We can only understand this
cleaiij' Avhen we knoAv that the Father and the Son are the Divine and
the Human in the person of the Lord, and the divme LoA'e and Wisdom
in his nature, embodied in his person. The Humanity is the way to
the Divinity, for avc cannot approach the Lord in Ms Essential Divmity,
except in and through the Divine Humanity m Avhich it dwells. The
Lord is also the truth which reveals Ms love, and invests it. Truth is
as light, love is as heat ; and heat clothes itself with light as with a
garment ; as does the divme love with divine wisdom. But Jesus is
also the life. This is agreeable to the declaration of John : " In him
u'as life ; and the life Avas the light of men" (i. 4). Life produces
light, love produces or clothes itseU Avith Avisdom, He Avho claimed
all these characters, or attributes, cannot be less than divine. Yet
that distinction of esscutitil juinciples in the nature of God, wMch
constitutes the divine trmity, is here very strikingly taught, aud its
benefits to men pointed out. Divmity is distinct from humaMty, love
is distinct from wisdom. The great object of the Lord is to brin"
ns by his humanity to his divinity, by his Avisdom to his love;

Chap. XIV.] ST. JOHN. 337
and his humanity or his wisdom is the way which alone can lead unto
it. In relation to man, the way is doctrine, the truth is everything
relating to doctrine, and life is goodness, which is the life of doctrme
and truth. Nothing makes life spiritual but the knowledges of truth
applied to life. Truths are apphed to lUe when they are made laws
of Ufe, Then man respects tbe Lord in them ; and the Lord is present
with him, and gives hira intelligence andwisdom, with affection for
truths and delight in them. The Lord is in his own truth in mau, since
all truth proceeds frora Mm, and what proceeds from hira is his, and
is hiraself, so that he is in every true disciple as the way, the truth,
and the life. And as there is nothmg m man, as he is in himself, by
which he can come to the Lord ; only Avhat he has received can lead
hira to the Being from whom he received it.
7. Jesus proceeds to say. If ye had known me, ye should have knoirni
my Father also : and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen
him. The disciples knew Jesus and acknowledged Mm as the Messiah,
but they knew Mm not as yet in his true character. Had they known
that the essential and eternal diviMty was in the humanity, they woMd
have known the divine by the human. The human manifested the
(Uvine both in person and m character. The Lord's divinity Avas
manUested personaUy in Ms humaMty, as a man's soM is manifested
m Ms body ; and it was manUested characteristicaUy, by his love
bemg exhibited m Ms wisdom, as a man's wUl is exhibited in his
understantUng. Those who knoAv Jesus know the Father, and when
the true knowledge of Jesus is attained, from henceforth the Father
is known and seen by the reception of his love in the heart, and even
by the perception of Ms truth in the understanding. In Jesus we
know and see tbe Father, for he is at once the Father and the Son, the
divme and the human, the love and the wisdom, m one glorious person.
8. But there is yet another claimant for further light or demonstra
tion. Philip saith unto him. Lord, shew us the Father, and it suf-
fioetli us. As Thomas signifies those who judge from sense, PhUip
signifies those who judge from reason, as yet unenlightened by the
rays of divme truth. Such desire to see the Father, to have the
(UvMity revealed, the divine love made known, hi some other than
the only way m which they can be known. They want to see im
mediately that which can oMy be seen mediately — to see the Father,
but not through the medium of the Son. There are many in Philip's
state, who think of the Father out of and separate from the Son, as a
Person or Being who may be seen by the eye of the mind, if not by
that of the body, as he is m his own essence.
V

338 S'T JOHN, [Chap. XIV.
9. The Lord's ansAver to Philip is suflficent to correct this grave
error. Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me Philip ? he that huth seen me hath seen the Father; and
how sayest thou then. Shew us the Father? The Lord speaks as if
in the language of surprise, that Philip should ask to see Him he had
so long and so often seen. Jesus had been long Avith him, and yet he
had not known him. This could only be said on the ground that PhUip
was ignorant of Avho Jesus really Avas. If he had not seen the Father
in Jesus, he had not known Jesus, • Jesus was the manifestation of
the Father. " He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." What
could be stronger than this in proof that the Father and the Son are
one, and that he who saw the Son saw the Father ? Hence the de
mand, "How sayest thou then. Shew us the Father?"
10. The Lord proceeds, Believest thou not that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me? Th.e words that I speak, unto you, I speak not of
myself: but the Father, that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Not only
the unity ofthe Father and the Son, but the nature of their distinction
and union, is placed in the clearest light. The Father in the Son, aud the
Son in the Father, imply unity that is only possible on the ground of
equality, and in mutual and reciprocal action and intercommunion. Each
is in the other. The Father is in the Son as love is in wisdom, and the
Son is in the Father as AAusdom is in love ; the Father is m the Son as the
soul is in the body, and the Son is in the Father as the body is in the
soul. That this is the kind of distinction between the Father and the Son,
the Lord further and plainly declares. "The Avords that I speak unto
you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dAvelleth in me, he
doeth the works." If the Son had been a divine person distmct from
the person of the Father, and possessing all divine attributes equaUy
Avith him, this language would have been impossible, for it Avould not
have expressed the truth. But when Father and Son are considered
as being to each other as soul and body, or as love and AAisdom, or as
Avill and understanding, the words of the Lord are seen to be most
significant and beautifully expressive of the truth. The words that
the body speaks, it speaks not of itself ; the soul that dwells m the
body, it doeth the works. Both the Avords and the works of man,
though spoken and done by the body, are spoken and done by the
body from the soul, or by the soul through the body. It is the same
Avith love and Avisdom, Avhich are in the Lord as wiU and understand
ing are in man. Whatever Avisdora speaks and does, it speaks and
does from love, just as all that the human understanding says and
does is frora the Avill. Impossible is it to understand our Lord's words

Chap. XIV.] ST. JOHN. 339
in reference to the co-eternal and co-equal divine persons ; they have a
natural and in every way consistent meaning Avlieu understood in reference
to the tAvo essential principles of love and Avisdnm in the divine Being,
or to the divinity and humanity in the one Person of the Lord
Jesus, as the incarnate God.
11. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me : or
else believe me for the very works' sake. The Lord impresses upon
PhUip the duty of believing in the reciprocal union of Him aud the
Father ; or if he cannot see the truth from its reasonableness and con
sistency, he is exhorted to believe it on account of the works Avhich
the Lord had performed, of which PhUip Mmself AA'as one of the
Avitnesses. Those works were such as testified to an indwellmg divine
poAver in him Avho performed them. Wonderful works had been per
formed by some of the prophets of the Old Testament, and even by
the apostles of the New, and perhaps by PhUip himself as one of them ;
but they performed their works in the name and by the power of the
Lord ; wMle Jesus performed his Avorks by his OAvn poAver, — by the
power of the divinity that dwelt within him.
12. Yet great as the Lord's Avorks Avere, he promises that the true
disciple shall be able to do, not only the works that he did, but works
still greater. Verily, verily, I suy unto you. He that believeth on me,
the -works that I do shull he do cdso ; and greater works than these
shall he do ; because I go unto my Futher. We are not informed
that the disciples, after the Lord's ascension, did any greater works
than the Lord himself performed. Those of Avliich he here speaks
are indeed greater works thau he had done, but they are works of
another kind. They are mternal Avorks, of which the Lord's miracles
were but the types and foreshadowings. The greater works which the
disciples were and are able to do, are works that relate to the soul and
its restoration to spiritual health and life. These works are as much
greater than those Avhich our Lord performed as the soul is greater
than the body. To some extent the Lord performed these spiritual'
works in tbe days of his fiesh ; but not until after his glorification-
could they be done effectually and fully, since man could only be re
generated as the Lord was glorified. Therefore our Lord says, " Greater
works than these shaU ye do — because I go unto my Father." His going
to the Father was the union of his humanity Avith his divinity. In
the spiritual sense, this teaches us that the union of the Lord's truth
with his love in the mmds of the disciples is that which enables them.
to do the greater works of regeneration. It is hardly possible to miss
the meaning and force of the Lord's declaration. We cannot reason-

340 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIV.
ably suppose that the Lord referred to the performance by the dis
ciples of mhaculous works greater than those which he himseU per
formed. The disciples did not perform any such works. Although it
might be admitted that .some of their works equaUed some of his, they
did not surpass them. It must be evident that the Lord spoke of those
spiritual works which were to follow his glorification, as its eternal resMts,
miraculous cures and restoratives being only teraporary. Those sphitual
works with their eternal consequences were the very end and obj ect of the
Lord's coming mto the world. Then, therefore, came the greater works,
wMch his disciples were to do, because he went to the Father. Tmth be
fore its union with good reforms, but truth united with good regenerates.
13. The Lord further says. And whatsoever ye shall usk in my name
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. To ask in
the Lord's name is not to pray to one divine person to grant favours
for the sake of another. This is not the meaning of the Scripture
form of expression. The general custom of CMistians of addressing
their prayers to the Father, as a divine person, for the sake or m the
name of the Son, as another cUvme person, arises from an entire mis
apprehension of the meaning of the Lord's Avords, as well as from a
mistaken view of the nature of the Lord's work in the flesh. It is sup
posed that Jesus came into the world to make satisfaction for sm, and
that sinners receive pardon of their sins and find acceptance with God,
on account of what Jesus has done to satisfy the demands of divme
Justice. Such a doctrine has no foundation in the Scriptures. It is
inconsistent with human justice, much raore with divine justice, wMch
is infinitely perfect. Divine justice could secure nothing to satisfy it
from such a transaction. Indeed, such a mode of satisfaction would
be an outrage upon the justice of God ; and is not to be thought of as
a part of true Christianity. To ask in the Lord's name is to ask hi Ms
spirit. This is the same as to ask in faith ; and whatsoever the disciple
asks, believing, he shall receive. Faith is the gift of the Lord's spirit,
and is the sphit of his truth in the human heart. Indeed, the Lord's
name means the quality of his love and truth ; and to ask in his
name is to ask under the influence of Ms love and the dhection of his
truth in our hearts and minds. And as all the divhie qualities and
attributes are brought near to us in the Lord's humanity, therefore
also to ask the Father in the name of the Son, is to approach and
worship the Lord in his Divine Humanity, as the temple of the
Divinity. The Lord promises to grant the petitions that are preferred
in his name, " that the Father may be glorified in the Son." The
Father is glorified in the Son in every saving operation which the

Cuap. XIV.] ST. JOHN. 341
diAinity performs through the humanity, or AA'hich the humanity per
forms from the divmity. W^e express the sarae truth in another form
when we say, that the divine love is glorified in the divine truth, in
every act of grace which it performs, iu every evU it removes, and in
every good it impilants in the human heart.
14. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do if. W^e may
remark again, that asking in the Lord's name cannot mean askmg for
his sake, else he Avould have said, not that he, but the Father, would
do it. What meaning can Ave attach to the promise of a person, that
he himself aa-IU do for us AA'hat Ave ask another to do in his name ? Is
it not evident that to ask in the Lord's name is to ask in the sphit of
the Lord ? that U we pray m the sphit of his humility and meekness,
of Ms mercy and forgiveness, of his love and truth, Ave shall receive ?
To ask in the name or for the sake of Christ, on account of what he
has done, cannot, of itself, make it certain that we shaU have the
thmgs we ask, however good these things may be ; but to ask m the
spirit of the Lord, having the same mmd hi us which was also m him,
this is a security for the reception of " whatsoever" we ask ; for this
implies a state of mind which at once gives us to loioAv what we should
ask, and prepares us for receiving it. The Lord is then the inspirer as
well as the answerer of prayer, and Avhatsoever Ave ask we shall un-
doubtecUy receive. We never reaUy ask in his name until his name is
in our prayers, tUl he inspires them, tiU his Spirit is the spirit of our
prayers. Prayers addressed to the Father, as an invisible aud incom
prehensible because unmauifested God, Avith the uame of Jesus
Christ pronounced at the conclusion, as the name of one for whose
sake we expect our petitions to be granted, is not to pray in the name
of Christ, in the sense m AvMch our Lord taught us to pray. Those
Avho pray according to this formMa, raay indeed pray m the name of
•Tesus, because they niaj' pray in the spirit of Jesus ; but the form itself
has no scriptural authority or Christian meaning. And, innocent
though it may be, it has a tendency to do harm, and to dishonour
rather than to honour the Lord, smce it may create a false trust, aud
so draw the mmd away from the true.
15. Our Lord now proceed.s to teach the condition on which our
prayers are to be answered. If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Considered in itseU this is a lesson of great importance. Love must
be manifested m a loving obedience to the divine commands. Where
there is smcere love, there wiU be obedience; but the Lord's imposing
tMs duty upon those who love him, shoAvs that there may be a kmd of
love wMch is Avithout obedience. His exhortation impUes, that we

342 ST. JOHN, [Chap, XIV,
must show our love in discharging our duties ; and that if these are
neglected, our love is not true love, but some counterfeit, that claims
the name without having the power of real affection. The Lord in
effect says. If ye reaUy love me ye avUI keep my commandments ; if
ye do not keep ray commandments, it is because your love is not real
love. Practical love is the love that secures for the disciples of Christ
an ansAver to their prayers, and which secm-es for them the prayers of
the Lord himself, as he noAV proceeds to say.
16. And I -will piray the Fcdher, and he shall give you another Com
forter, thcd he may abide with you for ever. A most instructing sub
ject is the Lord's praying the Father. The Lord literally prayed iu
the days of his humUiation. Does he pray literaUy uoav in the days
of his glorification ? We assume that one who prays must be inferior
to him Avhom he addresses. In the days of his flesh the Lord's human
nature was iMerior to Ms divine nature ; therefore, as a mau, Jesus
prayed to God. He could not pray as to his divinity. Pure diA'mity
¦cannot pray. It has no one to pray to, nothing to pray for. It has
in itseU aU that can bo the object of prayer. Jesus prayed upon earth,
because he was clothed with a frail humanity, which was iMerior to
his divinity and dependent upon it. Some may thmk that the man
CMist Jesus could not pray to a divinity that dAvelt Avithin him. But
tMs would make no difference. It is not space but state that dis
tinguishes and separates man from God, and gives to man the sense of
distance and separateness from God. The Infinite and the fiMte are
not separated by space, yet there is an impassable guU between them.
And so long and so far as the Lord's humanity Avas fiMte, he had, hi
Ms states of humiliation, a sense of inferiority aud dependence, and
therefore prayed to the Father. UMon Avith the Father Avas the
supreme object of his prayers. While this union Avas in progress the
Lord could pray, but Avhen that union was completed, prayer, in the
literal sense, must cease : there was no longer the union to pray for.
.But as the union of love and Avisdom, or of goodness and truth, first
eff'ected in the Lord, was afterAvards to be effected m men, there AA-as
this object to be desired, and therefore to be prayed for. But the
prayers of the Lord noAv are the desires of his love and the activities
of Ms Avisdom for man's salvation. When, therefore, the Lord saj-s,
"IwUl pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter," Ave
are not to understand that he actually and literally addresses prayers
to another person, to bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit upon Ms dis
ciples, whom he was about to leave. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete
or Conifortor, we have seen, is the Spirit of regeneration proceeding

Chap, XIV,] ST. JOHN, 343
from the Lord's divine humanity, and is caUed another, because the
Saviour Avas about to come to his church in another character. He
was now Avith them in the flesh, he Avas about to be with them in the
spirit. He Avas -with thera, and he Avas to be in them. The real
meaMng of the Lord's promise, in its practical application, is, Uke many
of his declarations, to be understood in relation to his operations in the
minds of the regenerate. The truth is, the Lord now prays in us.
The work of the Father and the Son, of the divine love and wisdom,
AvMch was effected in the Lord, is uoav to be effected in us. Aud
unless the Son's praying to the Father, Avhich men thmk of as still
takmg place iu heaveu, takes place iu the heaven of our oavu minds,
its effects avUI never be experienced by us, iu the descent of the Holy
Comforter. 17. The Comforter, Avhom the Lord Avas to pray the Father to send,
is the Spirit of truth; whom the -world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and
shall be in you. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, not because
the divine Emanation inspires the miud with the love, or gives it the
perception, of truth only — for the Holy Spirit is the Sphit of the Lord's
love as Avell as of his truth ; but because what proceeds from the Lord
is caUed truth ; the Lord from whom it proceeds being Goodness itself ;
aud Avliat proceeds from hhn contains both his love and his wisdom.
This Spirit of truth the Avorld cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him. The woiidly-mmded cannot receive the Spirit
of him whose kingdom is not of this world. They see him not by
singleness of mind and knoAV him not by simplicity of heart. But the
disciples knoAv him, for, says our Lord, " he dAveUeth Avith you and shall
be hi you." It is evident from these words that the Lord himself AA'as
that Spirit. It Avas he Avho Avas with the disciples, and it Avas he Avho
Avas to be in them. The emphatic part of this teaching is this : there
Avas to be a decided difference in the state of reception on the part of
the disciples, after the Lord's departure out of the Avorld, from Avhat
there was before. The reception of the Lord, even by his disciples,
Avas external. He was with the disciples rather than in them. They
saAV him and they saw him not ; they knew him and they knew him
not. They had not a spiritual perception of his truth, nor a spiritual
affection for Ms goodness, partly because of theh own external condi
tion of mind, partly from the Lord himself being as yet in a compara
tively external antl unglorified state. But after his ascension in his
glorified humanity, Ms Spirit descended, or he himself descended as
the Sphit, and entered into the hearts and understaudings of Ms foi-

344 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIV,
lowers, dwelling in them by the good of his love and the tmth of his
wisdom. 18. That the Lord Mmself was the Spirit of truth, he now evi
dently declares. I will not leave you comfortless ; I will come to you.
It was, then, he himself who was to come as the Comforter. The
identity of the Lord and the Spirit does not imply that there is no dis
tmction betAveen the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The Lord and
the Spirit are distinct as essentials, but they are essentials of one
person. In a practical sense, the promise that the Sphit Avould
come as the Comforter, and then that Jesus himself woMd come as
the Comforter, teaches us, that the Lord comes to Ms regenerate
people, first as the Spirit of truth to enlighten the understandmg, and
then as the Spirit of love to Avarm the heart. W^hen the Lord said he
Avould not leave his disciples comfortless, more properly, that he would
not leave them orphans, he meant that he would not leave them m
truth only, but that he would come and impart goodness unto them.
An orphan is one without a father or without a mother. A father
signifies interior good, a mother truth joined to that good; and
chUdren or sons are truths thence derived. Orphans here signify
those who haA'e been instructed in truth as the means of leading
them to good. They denote also those who are in truth and desire good.
In the spiritual sense, the Lord is the F'ather and the church is the
mother. The church instructs her children in tmth, and into and by
that truth the Lord communicates good ; and he who communicates
good is the Father of the faithful. The Lord's loving promise that he
woMd not leave his disciples fatherless, is a promise that he woMd not
leave them without the good which makes them his children.
19. Jesus proceeds to say. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me
no more; but ye see me: because J live, ye shcdl live also. The
world saw the Lord only while he was clothed Avitli the likeness of
sinful flesh. When he was no longer invested AA'ith the garment of
mortality, they saAv Mm no more. The AA'oiid, however, sphituaUy
uiiderstooii, consists of those who are in the love of the Avorld ; and
the world cannot see the Saviour Avith the eye of spiiitual faith, but
the true disciples can. The disciples saAv the Lord more clearly and
profitably after his departure than before it. "WlMe he Avas present
with them m the body, they saw him too much as the Avorld saw Mm ;
it was not tUl after he had " vanished out of their sight," that they
trMy saw him as the Lord and Saviour of their souls. The eyes of
their understandings were opened, and they saAV Mm in his true char
acter. But the Lord promises the disciples, Avhat he could not pro-

Chap. XIV.] S'T JOHN. 345
raise the world, that they should live by him. " Because I live, ye
shaU Uve also.'' Jesus speaks of the life which he Avas as to his
divinity, and which he became as to Ms humanity, that he might give
it to his disciples. This our Lord spoke of Avhen he said, " As the
Father hath Ufe m himself, so hath he given to the Son to have lUe in
MmseU." The lUe of Avhich the Lord speaks is not mere existence.
This is mdeed mcluded in it. It is not because Jesus Uves as God,
but because he Uves as man, that his disciples live also. It is because
the humanity lives and has " life Ui itseU," that men can Uve from
him. It is because the Ufe of love and Avisdom m the divinity be
carae the Ufe of love and wisdom in the humanity, that humanity can
receive that Ufe and live by it. This is the foundation of hope for
humanity, as arising out of the Incarnation — that, as Jesus lives, the
disciples of Jesus shaU live also. The divine life has accommodated
itseU to men, brought itself near and placed itseU within the reach of
aU, that aU may receive it if they wUl.
20. The Lord now speaks of the time and state which foUow the
reception of Ms Sphit. At that day ye shull know that I am in
my Father, und ye in me, and I in you. Jesus had aheady de
clared to PhUip that he was in the Father, and tbe Father m him.
He now teUs his disciples that in the day of their beginning to live from
his Ufe, they shoMd know, not only that he Avas in his Father, but, as
a consequence, that he was in them, and they in Mm. The day in
which they should know this is, spiritually, the state in Avhich they
should realize it. To know that Jesus is in the Father, is to knoAv
that his humanity is fuUy united to his divmity; it is to knoAv
that in Ms humanity divine tmth is united to divine goodness,
(Uvine Avisdora to divine love. The Lord's conjimction with his
disciples, is an effect and image of this. His disciples are in him,
as he is in the Father. Jesus is the Father of the faithful,
as God is the Father of Jesus. As he Avas born of God, the dis
ciples are born of Mm. The (Usciple cannot be in the Father im
mediately, but only mediately through the Son; the Son in tlie
Father, and the disciples in the Son, and through the Son in the
Father. In other words, man has not conjunction with the divinity
immediately, but only mediately through the humanity. But the
conjunction of the Lord and man is mutual. " Ye in me, and I in
you." So the Lord says respecting himself and the Father, " I in
the Father, and the Father in me.'' This mutual and reciprocal
union is most momentous in its nature and significance. It is acknoAv
ledged in the church, that iu the Lord, God is man and man is

346 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIV.
God. God is man by the Father being in the Son, and man is Gotl
by the Son bemg in the Father. The Father is in the Son by the
divine uniting itseU to the human, and the Son is m the Father by
the human uniting itself to the divine. Not only was it necessary for
the divinity to unite itself to the humanity, but it was no less necces-
sary for the humanity to unite itself to the diviMty, that the divine
might become human and the human become divine. The whole of
the Lord's trials and experience as a man were the means of the union
of the human Avith the divine. It Avas for this reason that the Lord Avas
left to Mmself, that is, Avas left to act altogether as a man, for uMess
he had passed through all human experience, even to feeling himself
alone, forsaken, not only of man but of God, he could not have united
himself to the Father, so as to make his manhood God. This reci
procal union of the human with the divine in the Lord Avas also
required for the reciprocal union of men Avitli himself It is because
the Lord as a man united himself to the Father, that man, as a fr-ee
agent, can conjoin himself Avith the Lord. Man does not, like the Lord,
do this from Mmself, but he must do it as of himself, as if the result
depended on Mmself alone ; but this is to be foUoAved by the acknoAv
ledgment that all Ms poAver is the Lord's power m him. It is the
state resulting from this experience which brings the disciple to knoAv
that the Lord is in him and he is in the Lord. It is this, mdeed, that
saves; for Ave are not saved by the Lord being in us, but by our bemg
in him. The Lord is in every mau, and if this could give salvation,
every man would be saved ; but CA'ery man is not in the Lord, there
fore not every man is saved ; but all Avho are in the Lord and the Lord
in them are among the blest.
21. The Divine Teacher now tells Ms disciples how they may be hi
him, and he savingly in them. He that huth my commandments, and
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be
loved by my Father, and I will love him, und will manifest myself to
him. The Lord had aheady exhorted his disciples to love Mm, even
as he had loved them, aud to love one another. Love, Ave knoAA', is
the means of conjuiiction and the bond of union. The Lord noAv
tells his disciples Avho those are that love him, and thus have conjunc
tion with him. They are those Avho love his commandments and keep
them. Love is very commonly considered, even among Christians, as
a feeling ; and many judge of the intensity of their love to the Lord by
the ardency of their feelings toAvards him personaUy, We ought, m-
deed, to thmk of the Lord as a person, and cultivate the feeling of
love towards him. But Ave must remember, that, as tbe Lord regards

Chap. XIV.] ST. JOHN. 347
not the persons of men, but regards aud loves them according to their
characters, so ought Ave to regard and love the Lord. We are to love
the Lord for Avliat he is, and for Avliat he has done. The Lord in
his very essence is love and Avisdom, or goodness and tmth ; conse
quently he is mercy, clemency, forgiveness, truth, righteousness, holiness.
AVe oMy trMy love the Lord Avlieu wo love these qualities Avhich con
stitute his nature. Aud we onlj' truly love these epialitios in the
Lord, Avlien Ave love them and cherish them in our hearts. And Ave
only truly love and cherish thera in our hearts, Avheii we love to
practise them. Indeed, the only Avay to acquire and possess them is
to do them. We cannot call love iuto existence by a direct act of the
AviU, but Ave can brmg it into existence by the wUl acting through the
Ufe. We cannot love by simply Avilling to love, but Ave can come to
love by doing from the Avill the good in which love is grounded.
Love must be acquired by obedience, before obedience can spring
from love. Love is the Mghest grace of the regenerate mind, and can
only be reached by ascending through all the lower graces. Obedience
is the foundation on which our heavenly house is built ; it is the
earth on avMcIi the spiritual ladder rests, by AA'hich the sold climbs
through aU the other graces to the heaven of love and goodness. The
ladder by Avhicli the soul ascends is that by which it also descends,
from love to God into a life of usefulness to mau. But in this
second stage of the spiritual life, obedience is of a far more perfect
character than in the first. In the first sttxge, obedience is from
fear ; in the second, it is from love : iu the tirst, it conies from a
sense of duty ; in the second, it proceeds from a sense of delight. Still,
love rests upon duty as its proper and indispensable basis. So that
the Lord's words are eminently and eternally true, "he that hath
my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." " And
he that loveth me," saith our Lord, " shaU be loved of my Father."
The Father being the divhie love, and the Son the divine wisdom, we
learn frora the Lord's words, that he Avho keeps the laAvs of the Lord's
wisdom, shaU becorae receptive of his love. " Love is the fMfiUing
of the law." Doing the truth prepares the way for the spirit of
tmth. The Lord enters into the heart Avhich his truth has purified
and prepared as a habitation for it. The Lord says, that he that
loves hira shaU not oMy be loved by his Father, but also by him
seU. The Father loves us when the Lord's love is in our hearts,
and the Son loves us when his Avisdom is in our affection,s. The
Lord loves us, m the true and practical sense, not merely when Ave
are the objects, but when Ave are the subjects, of his love. When

348 ST, JOHN. [Chap, XIV.
the Lord's -wisdom is the object of our affections, the Lord not only
loves us, but also manifests himself to us. The divine AA'isdom,
dweUing in the mind by love, gives it Ulustration. The Lord's wis
dom is thus no longer a laAv but a light, a light in which the Lord
manifests himself to us as our Saviour, the Giver of love and truth,
and of the happiness that they confer.
22. This teaching is not yet clear to the minds of all the disciples.
Judas saith unto Mm, not Iscariot, Lord, how -is if that thou wilt mani
fest thyself unto us, and not unto the world ? This Judas is the
Jude of the epistles, Avho bears such clear testimony to the sole divinity
of the Lord, as the only wise God our Saviour. Judas, at this tune
less enlightened than Avhen he AA'rote his epistle, asks how it is that
Jesus Avill manUest himself to his disciples, and not unto the Avorld.
The disciples still entertained the idea that the kingdom, AvMch
Jesus Avas about to establish, was a temporal kingdom ; and Judas no
doubt expressed the surprise and disappomtment AA'hich the disciples
generally felt, on hearing the Lord speak of a manUestation Arhich
they only Avere to Avitness. This is the only mstance AvMch the gos
pels record of this disciple expressing hiraself, either under the name
of Judas, or that of Lebeus, as he is also called. In all the lists of the
apostles, Ms name is among the last of the tAvelve, and by Luke (vi.
16), is placed next to Judas Iscariot, though honourably distinguished
from hhn. As Judas Iscariot represents the corporeal principle of
human nature, Judas, who now speaks, may be understood to represent
the sensuous, which is next above it. Yet he is not Iscariot ; he is a
true (Usciple, and came fully to know the truth which he now so
dindy saAV but afterAvards so clearly expressed : " But ye, beloved,
budding up yourselves on your most holy faith, praymg m the Holy
Sphit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of the
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." The question of Judas is ex
pressive of a desire to knoAv the nature of the manifestation Jesus pro
mised, and the difference betAveen the disciples, to whom this manifes
tation was to be made, and the Avorld, to whom it Avas not to be made.
Divine wisdom is unfolded, as it has in all ages been revealed, accord
ing to the general state of human apprehension, and this is indicated
by the truth being often given to those who mquhed after it.
23. Jesus answered and said unto Mm, If a mun love me, he will
keep my words : und my leather will love him, and we will come unto
him, and make our abode with Mm. In this declaration the Lord
points out to Judas how it Avas that he Avould manUest MmseU unto
his disciples, and not unto the world. His manifest presence was to

Chap. XIV.] ST. JOHN. 349
be given to those who loved him and kept his words. The world
loved him not and kept not his words, therefore no manifestation
would be made to the world. There is little verbal difference be
tween this explanation and the statement which the Lord was de
sired to explain, but the difference, slight as it is, requires our atten
tion. Jesus had said, " He that hath my commandments, and keepeth
thera, he it is that loveth me ;'' uoav he says, " If a man love me, ho
AvUl keep my words." In the first, obedience is given as a test of love ;
in the second, love is given as the cause of obedience : yet both assert
that there is no love without good deeds. We keep the Lord's com
mandments that Ave may love him ; we love the Lord that we may
obey Mm, or keep his Avords. The Lord uoav speaks of the Father
and himself coming, and coming together : " Ave will come and make our
abo(,le with him." This is expressive of the reception by the disciple
of love and wisdom united ; and they not only come to the loving dis
ciple, but abide with him, expressing a state of confirmed faith and
love ; a state of reception both hi the understanding and the will ;
for to come is expressive of reception in the understanding, and to abide
is expressive of a state of reception in the wiU.
24. On the other hand our Lord says. He that loveth me not, keepeth
-not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, hut the
Father's which sent me. The first part of the Lord's statement is evi
dent, since it is but the negative side of the truth already considered.
H those who love him keep his words, those who do not love him do not
and cannot keep his sayings. The Lord eMorces the authority of his
words, by saying that they are not his but the Father's. We cannot
understand this if we regard Jesus as a divine person ; for how, in that
case, woMd the word be not his, U it was the Father's, since he and
the Father were equal m divinity, and one God ? If we understand
the Father to be the divinity and the Son to be the humanity,
we can see that the word was not his but the Father's, as the
words which the lips utter are not the body's, but the soul's. If, again,
we understand the Father and the Son to be the divine love and the
divine wisdom, we can see a profound and great tmth revealed m the
Lord's saying. For the word which the Lord spake was not the ex
pression of his wisdom only, but of his love. The Lord's mfiMte
love was the fountam of his words. Love was the real origin of aU
his AVords and works. His words were words of love. They were, m-
deed, Avords of wisdom, but they proceeded forth and came from love,
and were love iu theh very essence. They were the breathings, the
expression, and the very form of eternal, infinite, and most tender love.

350 ST, JOHN, [Chap. XIV.
25, 26. Having mstracted his disciples in the all-important subject
of their duty to him, he now says. These things have I spoken unto
you, being yet piresent with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you cdl
things, caid bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
scad unto you. The Lord spoke as if he coMd oMy partially reveal
himself to Ms disciples while he was present Avith them in the flesh.
He had many things to say unto them, which they could not then
bear. The canon of Scripture Avas not yet complete ; but the supple
mental part of his Word Avliich was yet to be communicated to the
disciples, Avas not only a further but a higher revelation — a revelation
not only of the letter, but of the spirit and inner meaning of his "Word.
The Comforter, Avhom the Father Avas to send in his name, Avas to
teach them all things, and bring to their remembrance all that he him
self had taught them. The Comforter being sent in the Lord's name,
is expressive of the great truth, that the Sphit was to bring with him
all the virtue and poAver of the Lord's work on earth, all the saving
(pialities which the Lord embodied in the glorified Humanity in which
he now dwelt. He Avas to lead the disciples into aU truth. The dis
ciples but half understood most if not all of the words that Jesus ad
dressed to them. Neither the things to be understood, nor the facMty
cf understanding them, existed as yet. Not tiU the Lord had gone
through his experience, and ascended into heaven, and returned to the
disciples by his Spirit, could they know the mysteries of the kingdom
in its completed establishment. How many things must the disciples
have forgotten, as Avell as imperfectly understood ! They had forgotten
the words ofthe repeated prediction, that he should be put to death, and
Avould rise again the third day. TMs is also a symbol of the forget
fulness of the disciple in all times ; for, sphitually, he remembers
nothing which he does not realize. The inner memory is thfe memory
of the heart rather than of the understanding ; for it records the affec
tions rather than the thoughts, and the thoughts only so far as they
are the forms and outbhths of the affections. Hence it is that in the
Scriptures the heart is often spoken of as the memory. So is it with the
Lord's word, as to the letter and the spirit. While the disciple is in
the letter, the Lord is present with him as the Son of man, but when
he is in the spirit the Lord is Avitli him as the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit was to teach the disciples all things — all things that concerned
their salvation, that came within the limit of theh capacities, and Avere
accordant Avitli their states. And he Avas to bring aU things to their
remembrance, not only by bringing to theh remembrance facts they

Ch,vp. XIV.] ST, JOHN. 351
had forgotten, but things contained in those facts, given in parable
and in language they little understood. We are not to suppose tiiat
the Lord meant that the Spirit would teach the disciples things that he
had not delivered to them, or that are not revealed in the Avritten
Word. The Holy Spirit does not teach independently of the Scrip
tures, but by means of them. He teaches the truths which the Scrip
tures contain, by giving the mind a sphitual perception of them, by
opeMng the mind itself to a more interior view of its teachmgs, and
disclosing deeper things in the Word than had been possible to make
knoAvn before. The teaching of the Spirit is not only different in de
gree, but in kind, from that of the Son of man. The Spirit does not
add to verbal revelation, but unfolds it. He does not teach other things
than the Lord taught, but the same things in another manner. He does
not enlarge, but only exalts, the circle of revealed tratii ; giving the
spirit of that of which the Lord gave the letter. The teachings of the
Spirit are, therefore, now to be tried by the teachings of the Son of man,
so that every proposed revelation of the Spirit is to be tested by the
actual teachings of the revealed Word. The teachings of the Spirit are,
in fact, iUustrations rather than revelations. This we shall see more
fuUy when we come to a future part of our Lord's discourse.
27. Having promised his disciples the gift of the Spirit, the Lord
UOAV bestows upon them the gift of his peace. Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Innocence and
peace are the inmost principles of aU perfection and blessedness. In
nocence was the state from which man fell, and to which the Lord
carae to restore him. To effect this the Lord, by glorification, made
his humanity Innocence itself Having by this means reconciled the
human to the Divme nature in himself, he made peace between them.
So that innocence and peace, which sin had destroyed in the human
race, were restored and brought nigh to them in the perfected human
ity of Jesus Christ. The Lord's own peace — that which he calls " my
peace " — is the result or state of the perfect reconcUiation and union
of the Human nature with the Divine in his own person. The union
of the divine and human natures in the person of the Lord is, therefore,
essential and perfect peace. And when the Lord removes the enmity
that dweUs m our hearts, Ave, being reconciled to him, have his peace
imparted to and dweUing in us. " For it pleased the Father, that in
him should all fulness dweU : and having made peace through the blood
of his cross, by hhn to reconcile aU things unto himself, whether they
be tMngs in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime

352 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XIV.
alienated, and enemies in your minds by wicked works, hath he recon
ciled in the body of his flesh tMough death, to present you holy, and
unblameable, and unreprovable iu his sight " (Col. i. 19). "For he is
our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken dovm the midcde
Avail of partition ; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances ; for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace ; and that he might
reconcUe both unto God in one body by the cros.s, having removed the
enmity thereby" (Eph. ii. 14). But the Lord gives peace to his dis
ciples, by a work wrought in them, corresponding to that by which he
himself became the Prince of peace. Peace in the human mind is a
state produced by the removal of the ennUty of the unregenerate
heart, and its renewal by the Spirit of the Lord. A new heart
and a new spirit are the essentials of the new nature, in which the
Lord's peace dwells. As the union of the human and the (Uvine m the
Lord is his own peace, our conjunction with him is his peace m us.
And our conjunction with the Lord is effected by the conjunction of
Ms love and tmth within us. When the Lord promised to give the
disciples his peace, he added " not as the world giveth, give I unto
you." His peace has nothing of the world in it ; it is opposite to that
Avhich the world bestows. That which the world gives, is the peace
of gratified, not of conquered passions. It is outward not inward peace,
natural not spiritual peace, temporal not eternal peace ; it is the peace
which is not peace — the peace in which is the cankerworra of discontent,
of envy, hatred, and aU uncharitableness, which eats mto the heart of
every pure affection, every true enjoyment. No, not as the world
gives does the Lord give his peace ; the peace which he gives, is the
peace of one who has overcome the world, and which he gives to those
who also overcome. Knowing that we have One who is able to make
us more than conquerors, and give us the peace of victory over sin, we
may weU listen to his exhortation, " Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid." If the Lord is with us, who can be against
us ? Of whom shall we be afraid ? No evil or falsity can injure us, if
we have the principles of peace, which are love and truth, dwelling
united within us. At peace with God, at peace with man, our hearts
need not and cannot be troubled by evil, neither need they be afraid
from falsity. In this world indeed the Lord's disciples will have tribu
lation ; but this does not destroy nor even disturb their inward peace.
28. The Lord now reveals to his disciples the ground of their faith
and confidence in him, as the Author of peace and of every other bless-
mg. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and. come again

Chap, XIV.] ST. JOHN. 353
unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto
my Fcdher : for my Father is greater than I. The disciples had heard
the Lord speak of his departure and return ; and because he had said
these things unto them, sorroAv had fiUed their heart. He now tells
them that if they had loved him, they Avould have rejoiced at his
going to the Father. If the disciple has love he avUI rejoice in all
that helps forAvard the work of his salvation. The greatest of the
means for effecting salvation, the Avork that provided for it, Avas the
Lord's glorification, and his union Avitli the Father. Love to the Lord
must ever rejoice iu this ; it is the cause of all spiiitual joy. " If ye
loved me." Yes. But Avhen iu the state Avhicli that of the disciples
represented, man does not truly love the Lord. He hardly, as yet,
knoAvs who the Lord is, or Avhat true love to him means. But U he
did know and did love, he AA'oMd rejoice, because the Lord was goino-
to the Father ; "for the Father is greater than I." The divinity was
yet greater than the humanity. The humanity, before it was fMly
glorified, Avas inferior to the divmity. And as it is the divine human
ity from which enlightenment, and love, and peace come, the Lord's
going to the Father Avas the humanity acquiring all the poAver and
glory of the divinity, and becoming itself divine. The Lord's going
to the l"'ather Avas his progressive union Avitli the Father ; and this
union was a cause of joy. But joy is inscribed on love. In love
there is joy ; for perfect love casts out fear. This subject has an inter
est for the disciple, as great as that Avhich it had for those to whom
these Avords Avere spoken. The love of God iii the inner man is the
Father in us, aud the truth of God in the outer man is the Son in
us. During the progress of regeneration, tmth in the external looks
to, and progresses toAvards, union Avitli good in the internal. Good is
then greater than truth, but Avhen they are united, each is as the other,
and both are one.
29. Our Lord further says. And now I huve fold you before it come
to pu.is, that, when it is come to -pass, ye might believe. The disciples
did not UOAV believe, for they did not understand, nor were they dis
posed to entertain the idea, that the Lord must pass through death
mto glory. Nevertheless it Avas expedient that they should be in
structed, that they might believe Avhen the event fulfiUed the predic
tion. SphituaUy understood, truth foreteUs, good fMMs ; knowledge
is prediction, experience is fulMmeut. Spiiitual and saving faith
comes b.y experience. When we do not believe the truth, it is
essentiaUy because we do not feel the AA-aiit of it. It is the heart
that believeth unto righteousness. It is 'not till truth is united to good
z

354 ST JOHN. [Chap. XIV.
that it produces full belief, or that faith is a Uvmg faith. Truth tells
us before it conies to pass ; but it is only Avhen it comes to pass in our
OAvn experience that Ave truly and fidly believe.
30, 31. The Lord concludes this part of his discourse in these words :
Hereafter I will not talk much with you ; fur the prince of this world
cometh, and hath nothing in me. But thut the world muy know that
I love the Futher; cmd as the Fcdher gave me commandnient, even so
I do. Arise, let us go hence. The time A^-as fast approaching Avhen
the Avork, of Avliich the Lord had been teUmg his disciples, AA'as to be
accomplished. W^lien his Avork on earth was finished, he Avas not to
speak, but to act — to act out his oavu divine purpose, of draAving them
stiU more closely iuto union Avith himself. But between the time of
liis speaking to them and of his doing Avhat the Father had given Mm
to do, the Prince of this Avorld Avas to come to make a last determmed
effort to defeat the Lord's pm-pose of redeenUng mankmd. AVe know
how terribly and aAvfuUy this was realized iu our Lord's experience, m
the garden and on the cross. The commandment the Lord had received
from the Father was, to lay down his life, that he might take it again.
TMs commandment included the doing of aU that the divine law re
quired ; for to overcome m the last temptation, when all the powers of
evil, iu both Avorlds, were to be resisted, the poAver of love and Avisdom
must be active. The devil is caUed the prince of this world. The
love of the Avorld is the prince of this Avorld, for this love is the rulmg
power in the world, and the rMing prmciple m the natural mmd,
Avhere the Avorld has its emphe. The prince of this Avoiid, our Lord
said, "hath nothing iu me." The Lord subsequently declared " Ihave
overcome the Avorld." The Lord does not, hoAvever, raean that the
prmce of the Avorld AvoMd find no ground of temptation in Mm, but
that the temptation AvoMd result in convincmg the Avoiid that he loved
the Father. Jesus does not mdeed say that the Prmce of this world
Avould find absolutely nothing of the Avoiid hi hhn ; only that the
prince of this world had nothmg in him, but that the Avoiid might
know that he loved the Father. Similar is the meaMng here to the
Lord's Avords to his discijiles respecting the man Avho Avas born bhnd,
" Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents : but that the Avorks of
God should be made manifest in him " (chap. ix. 3). In reference to
the disciple, the Lord's words teach that betAveen words and deeds —
between the reception of truth and the doing of good — betAveen a state
of mteUectual aud practical faith, there is a state of conflict. But Avith
the faithful, this conMct oMy introduces the mmd mto a higher be
cause a purer state, leading the CMistian to do the F'ather's command-

Chap. XV.] ST. JOHN. 355
ment. Aud Avlien we consider that the state Avhich precedes this is a
state of truth and temptation, then Ave see the significance of the Lord's
concluding Avords, " Arise, let us go hence,'' Avhicli are expressive of the
desire, Avhich the Saviour is ever inspiring into the hearts of the faith
ful, to seek that elevation out of a state of truth into a state of good
ness, and out of a state of tribulation into a state of peace, by which
the world shall knoAV that we love the Lord as our Father. The Avorld
is here mentioned m tAvo senses. The Avoiid is the natural mmd, as
consisting of affections and thoughts that relate to the world. This
natural mind is evU AvMle it is ruled by the love of the world, as its
prhice ; but when the prince is overcome, and the love of the world is
subdued, the Avorld itseU is capable of being brought to knoAV and
acknowledge the Lord as its rMer. To arise, is to raise our affections
above the Avorld ; and to go forth, is to carry out the Mgher principles
Ave have acquired m a life and conversation that are such as promote
the glory of God and the AveUare of men.

CHAPTER XV.
The words which the Lord addressed to his disciples, after he had
concluded the discourse, in AvMch he revealed so fuUy and plamly Ms
relation to Ms Father, and their relation to him, were foUoAved by their
literaUy arismg from the table where they reclined Avith him, and gomg
thence Avith him into the city, when his last and most momentous
address to them Avas delivered.
1. The Lord had taught his disciples that a most intimate relation
should exist between himseU and the Father, and between Mm and
them. He now proceeds to Ulustrate the nature of that relation. /
am the true vine, und my Father is the husbandman. The parable of '
the vine is a most beautUM and instructive iUustration of the subject
it was mtroduced to explain. In the beginning of Genesis, the Lord's .
presence with his church, as the giver and sustainer of her life, is de
scribed aUegoricaUy by the tree of lUe, planted in the midst of the
garden ; by eating the fruit of which her children should Uve for ever,
or secure for themselves eternal Ufe. Man forfeited his right to the
tree of lU'e by eatmg of the tree of knowledge. When the Lord came •
as the Restorer, as the seed of the Avoman who was to bruise the ser
pent's head, he came to plant ancAv the tree of lUe, which is love, in
the centre of the soul, which Avas to be .renewed as the paradise of God.

356 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XV.
The humanity which the Lord assumed and glorified in the world, is,
in very deed, the tree of life, in and through which the church and her
members have spiritual and eternal life. Setting himself forth as " the
true vine," the Lord explains the relation in which he stood to his
Father on one hand, and to the church on the other. The Father
stood, in a corresponding relation to the Son that the husbandman
stands to the vine ; and the members of his church have a relation to
Jiiiu simUar to that which the branches bear to the tree. The Father
Avas to the Son as the husbandman is to the vine, both iu its hegiiming
.-and in its progress. The husbandman plants the vine, so the humanity
nvas begotten of the divinity ; aud the superintending care of the Lord's
Divinity over the humanity from first to last, even to its complete
-glorification, is as the care of the husbandman over the vine. In the
more abstract or interior sense, the vine is a symbol of the Lord as to
.'his Divine Truth, and the husbandman is a type of the Lord as to his
."Divine Good ; and the operation of the Divine Good upon and tMough
the Divine Truth, is treated of throughout the whole of the parable.
First the operation of the Divine Good on Divine Truth in the humanity
itsfeU, and afterAvards on the members of the Lord's body.
2. But the divine operations, of Avhich the humanity is the subject,
are mentioned more particularly. Every branch in me that heareth nut
fruit he tcdceth away ; und every branch tlmt heareth fruit he purgeth
it, that it may bring forth more fruit. As we are considermg this
parable first in relation to the Lord himself, the branches are the human
affections which belonged to his humanity, as born of the virgin mother.
Those which grcAV out of the root of that faUen nature which the Lord
assumed, were of a character similar to the root which produced them.
Every affection of the human nature AA'hich bore no fruit, Avas removed,
aud every affection which bore fruit was purged of Avhat Avas natural
and imperfect, that it might bring forth more fruit — fruit more perfect
as AveU as more abundant. By this process of removing and purging,
the humanity of the Lord was gradually perfected, and Avas made
Righteousness, so as to produce the fruits of salvation m those avIio,
as branches, became engrafted iuto the true vine — the Divine Humanity
of the Lord the Saviour. And this leads us to the secondary meaning
of the parable. In this application, the vine is the type, not of the
Lord's own glorious Body, but of his mystical body, formed by heaven
and the church. The Lord is stUl the prmiary, we may say the only,
object to be regarded in the vine thus understood ; for heaven and the
church are not constituted of anything originating in or belongmg to
those who compose them, but heaven and the church consist of that

Chap. XV.] ST. JOHN. 357
which angels and men have received from the Lord, and which is the
Lord in them. In brief, heaven and the church consist, not of the hu
man recipients, but of the divine love and truth they have received.
Although the gift and its recipient cannot be separated, they can be
distinguished ; and are so distinguished by the recipients themselves,
who ascribe all they have of goodness and truth to the Lord alone.
Those who become members of the Lord's body are branches of the
true vine. But all the branches of the true vine are not true branches.
So long as they have any connection with heaven and the church, they
derive, as branches, nourishment from the root. And all have some
connection Avith heaven and the church, and Avith the Lord through
thera. Every one in early life is in connection with heaven, and
either directly or indirectly Avith the church. All are branches of the
vme while they are in a state of innocence and simplicity of heart ;
but those who, Avhen they pass out of this state, bear no good
fruit, are cut off from connection with the vine. " Every branch in
me that heareth not fruit, he taketh aAvay." Fruitless branches are
an encumbrance to the tree ; for, besides bearing no fruit tliem-
seh'es, they prevent others from being as fruitful as they might.
Moreover, those aa'Iio produce no good fruit produce evil fruit, turning
the juice of the vine into nourishment for sin. They must, therefore,
be taken aAvay, both for their OAvn sake and for the sake of others.
But those who do bear fruit, hoAvever little it be, are retained in con
nection with the A'ine, and are purged of their imperfections, that they
may bring forth more fruit. The vine has the capacity of nourishing
aU its branches, however widely the tree may spread; and the husband
man has the desire of retaining all. It is only when the branches are
unprofitable and injurious to themselves and others, that they are taken
aAvay. AU who are willing to be purged of their impurities, aud wiU
submit to the purging process of reformation, and the perfecting pro
cess of regeneration, are retained, and brought into conformity Avith the
vine as the stem from Avhich they have grown, or on aa'McIi they have
been engrafted.
3. The Lord, addressmg the disciples, applies this parable to them
as branches of the true vine, Avhich he himself is. Now ye are clean
through fhe word which I have spoken unto you. Purification is
effected by truth, symbolized in the Scriptures by water. The Lord
seems here to allude to the significant and symbolic act which he had
just performed, in washing the disciples' feet ; when he said " Ye are
clean, but not all." The purifying efficacy of his truth is also described
by the purifying power of his blood. Jesus is he " that loved us, and

358 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XV.
washed us from our sins in his own blood " (Rev. i. 5). And so the
,'great multitude are " they who have come out of great tribulation, and
¦have Avashed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
-Lamb" (ib. vn. 14; see also Heb. ix. 14 ; 1 John i. 7). The Lord's
word is that which purifies. It instructs men, and leads them to shun
•evil, and do the work of repentance. It is important to reflect, that it
is the Lord's word that effects this work of purification, his word
being the Divine Truth proceeding from Mm, which includes in it the
imcrit and power of the Lord's Avorks of redemption and glorification.
This, in an eminent sense, is meant by his blood ; Avhich is not to be
thought of as the blood of a dead but of a living and divine body,
of Avhich the blood shed upon the cross was only fhe outAvard symbol.
The blood of the Lord is both living and life-giving, as weU as puri
fying. It is divine truth proceeding from love ; for he whose blood
AA'ashes us from our sins is he who also " loved us."
4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
¦¦itself, except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in
me. The nature of the relation subsisting betAveen himself and his
¦disciples the Lord here very expressively describes. The branch owes
the Avhole of its Ufe, and consequently its poAver of bearing fruit, to its
-connection Avith the vine. It draws indeed nourishment from the
atmosphere through its leaves as weU from the earth through its
Toots ; but the power of nourishing itself, or of being nourished, is en
tirely owing to its being in connection Avith the vine. There is this
difference, it is true, betAveen the type and the antitype, that the natural
A'ine and its branches are destitute of the power of willing and choosing,
Avliile the spiritual are possessed of free will. Jesus AviUs that all
should be branches in him, as the true A'ine, and that all should be
living branches, bearing good fruit. The members of his church
have the power of choosing Avhether they wUl abide in connection with
the vine, and be fruitful or unfruitful branches. The Lord therefore
says, " Abide iu me, and I in you.'' This is the language of exhorta
tion, and would be Avithout meaning if those to whom it was addressed
Avere not free — free to choose AA'hether they Avill abide in the Lord
.Jesus Christ or no. It is an appeal to the disciples, to choose life
rather than death ; life by remaining in connection Avith Him who
is Life itself, and the source of hfe to Ms people, rather than the
death that inevitably results from Avilful separation frora Him. " As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ;
no more can ye except ye abide in me." Fruit is the end of the vine's
existence ; to produce fruit is the function and use of the branch.

Chap. XV.] ST. JOHN. 359
All religion has relation to life, and the Ufe of religion is to do good.
But the point here to be considered is, not the necessity of doing
good, but the impossibility of doing good except by the poAver of
Him AA'ho is Goodness itself Men can indeed do good Avithout being
in spiritual connection with the Lord Jesus ; but such good is not
real but apparent good. It may be good to those to whom it is done
but it is not good to him who does it. It is not done from any mo
tive of real goodness. It is not done from the Lord's Spirit, but from
the sphit of the man Mmself. And such good, besides being tempo
ral in its nature, is temporary in its duration. The motive which
prompts it is of the world, and ends with the world ; it cannot enter
heaven. Cut off from the vme, the fruitless branch will be cast forth,
and will wither: and its judgment will be that of the barren fig
tree : " Let no fruit grow on thee thenceforth for ever."
5. Havmg instructed his disciples as to the work of the husband
man, and the necessity of the branches abiding in the vine, he now ex
plains to them the meaning of the image he had used. / can the vine, ye
are the branches ; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit ; for without me ye can do notMng. The
language which the Lord employs to describe the relation between
him and his disciples gives a most exalted idea of his nature and
power. No being that Avas not infinite could rightfully use this lan
guage. For what does it imply, but that Jesus is the spiritual life
and strength of aU Avho spiritually live and act ? They live by his
Ufe, they act by his power : Avithout him they can do nothing. This
language is mconsistent with the idea that spiiitual and eternal life
are to be secured by merely following Ms teaching or imitating his
example. It is not only frora what^ Jesus was and did, that his disciples
have life, but from what he is and does ; it is not merely by look-
mg back to Mm as an example, but by looking up to him as a living
power — as One who has all poAver, and by abiding in him, that they
can bear fruit unto eternal life. Their life is to be derived frora him,
and is to be his life in them. They are to be grafted into the vine,
and draw their nourishment from his roots. Not fruit merely, but
much fruit, is the result of living m connection with the true vine.
Much the disciple receives, much he is required to give. He is to
abound in all good Avorks. But Avhile Ave can bring forth much frmt
by abiding in the Lord and having the Lord abiding in us, without
him we can do nothing. We can do nothing spiritual or heavenly of
ourselves ; nothmg that can enrich the soul of the doer, or that can
build up the Lord's kingdom of righteousness and peace in his hea:t.

360 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XV.
This may not be apparent to man, or be made maMfest in this world ;
but after death, when all earthly motives to do good have died out,
the truth Avill be revealed, and the soul wUl be left in its nakedness.
" Without me ye can do nothing."
6. We UOAV learn tbe consequences of not abiding in the Lord as
the true vine. If a man abide not in me, he is cast furth as a branch,
anrl is withered ; and men gather them, caid cast them into the fire,
and they are burned. Not only is there no fruit, but no existence out
of Jesus Christ. There is nothing here said about the Lord not abid
ing in men, but only about their not abiding in him. The Lord
does not AvithdraAV himself from any one ; it is by not abiding in
him that a man is cast forth. The nominal disciple, who abides not
in the Lord, is one whose Avant of faith and love separates him from
the Fountain of life, and leaves him no other fate than to be cast forth
as a branch, and to Avither. " And men gather them, and they are cast
into the fire, and they are burned." No longer Uving and flourishing
and bearing fruit, to the glory of God and the good of others, he is
rudely cast aAvay and dried up, and is fit for nothing but to be gathered
of men, aud cast into the fire and burned. Gathering is expressive
of particular things being brought together into one Avhole. The
Lord unites the affections of the Avholu human race, so as to form
of them one man. He gathers the righteous into his kingdom, as
the husbandman gathers the Avheat into his garner. The angels
gather the elect from the four Aviiids, from one end of heaven to the
other. The AA'icked are gathered, Avhen their affections are gathered
together by and around the ruling love. They are cast into the fire Avhen
the ruling love obtains complete ascendancy, and comes into manifestation
as the lusts of evil ; and they are burned, AA'hen everything good and
true which they may have learnt is consumed, aud cA'ery thought and
affection is inflamed, and burns with the desires of hatred, revenge,
and all unohaiitableness.
7. On the contrary, our Lord continues to say, //' ye abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, cmd it shull he
done unto you. Those Avho abide in the Lord receive Avhatever they
ask, because they crave nothing but Avhat the Lord himself inspires
them Avith the desire to ask. AVhen the avUI of man is in harmony
with the Avill of God, he can ask nothing but AA'hat is agreeable to the
Divine avUI. He Avills Avhat the Lord wills ; -indeed he avUIs from the
Lord's A-\'ill ; for to abide in the Lord is nothing but to be in the love
of the Divine attributes avMcIi constitute the Divine nature. Confir
mation in a state of love and faith is abiding iu the Lord ; and he

Chap. XV.] ST. JOHN. 361
who asks in faith and love, asks what the Lord delights to grant. The
spmtuall3'-minded man asks chiefly for spiritual things, and such only
as are suited to his requirements. If he seeks exemption or deliver
ance from trial or affliction, he seeks, as our Lord himself asked, in
submission to the Divine wUl — " not as I will, but as thou wUt." It
is true that no mere man can reach or even approach the height of
perfection which our Lord attained in his prayers. But iu so far as
man is in the earnest desire and effort to be, in his oavu measure,
Avhat his Lord was, his prayers will partake of the nature of the
Lord's ; and the answers he receives wUl be like those which Jesus
received. There is, we find, no Umit assigned to the will or desires
of the true disciple as expressed in his petitions. " Ye sliaU ask
AA'hat ye will." The design of this is no doubt to instruct us, that
the Lord desires that Ms disciples should ask, and should ask ear
nestly and often. The divine avUI is, that men should both avUI and
strive to obtain what they Avill, and not supinely Avait for spiritutil
gifts from on high. We must at the same time reflect that the pro
mise of obtaining Avhatever the suppliant wiUs to ask is given only to
him Avho abides in the Lord, and has the Lord's Avords abiding iu him.
"We abide m the Lord when we love him ; and his Avords abide in us
Avhen we obey them. Through his love the Lord gives the spirit of
prayer, and through his Avords he teaches the subjects of prayer.
8. But the end of prayer leads to doing as Avell as to receiving.
Hereinis my Father glorified, tlud ye bear much fruit ; so shcdl ye bemy
disciples. In what sense and in Avhat way is the Father rather than the
Sou glorified by the disciples bearing much fruit ? The Lord, we
know, is the Father as well as the Son ; the Father as Love, the Son
as Wisdom. The Father is glorified in man's Avorks, Avhen they are
done frora the Lord's love, and thus from love to the Lord. The
divine love is then glorified in the disciple who performs them ; for
the love of God is exalted in the heart, so far as the disciple does
good, which is the fruit of love. "So shall ye be my disciples.'' A
disciple of the Lord is one Avho learns and obeys the Lord's truth.
The doing of good leads to the acquisition of truth. Love and truth
perfect each other. The more Ave love the more we believe ; the more
we exalt the love of God in our hearts, the more clearly Ave see the
truth of God in our understandings. The more Ave glorify the Father,
the more faithful disciples are we of the Son.
9. As the Father huth loved me, so huve I loved you : continue ye in
my love. The mediatorial character of the Lord's humanity is here very
strikingly brought out. The Lord Jesus is too commoMy thought of

362 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XV
as directing his mediatorial work to the Father, as a distinct person
from himseU. But the mediatorial work of the Lord is really directed
to men. They only need reconciliation. God has the gifts of salva
tion to bestoAv, and all that is needed is, that men should be made
willing to receive it. Before the incarnation there was no adequate
medium through which the gUts of God could be communicated to
men. The humanity Avhich the Lord assumed and glorified is now
such a medium. The gift of salvation Avhich could not pass directly
from God to man, uoav comes through the Lord's humanity. The
divine love becomes human in the Lord's humaMty, and thus aucom-
modated to the minds of men. This is expressed by the Father loving
him and the Son loving men. But not only the fact, but the manner,
(jf the Lord's love of his disciples is described in this language ; as the
Father loved the Son the Son loved his disciples. Iu the same way that
the divine love was wrought into the humanity of the Lord, it is
Avrought into the mind of man. According to the literal sense of our
Lord's words, the Son was the object of the Father's love, and men are
the objects of the Son's love. If, in accordance Avith the spiritual idea,
we say, that as the Son became the subject of the Father's love, men
became the subjects of the Son's love, we express the truth as it reaUy
is. This is saying, in other words, that man is regenerated in the
same Avay, or by the same process, as that by which the Lord Avas
glorified. How marveUous is this great truth, — that God became m-
carnate for the purpose of providing a medium by which this love
might descend into the hearts of men ! And how important the Lord's
exhortation, " Continue ye in my love."
10. The Lord iioav teaches us Iioav avc may be able to continue in
his love. If ye keep my commandments, -ye shull ubide in my love,
even us I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
The commandments of Avliich our Lord speaks, were not any special
commands laid upon the Sou in reference to the work of redemption,
but are the eternal laws Avhich the Lord came on earth to fulfil. So
neither are the Lord's commandments to us special but general. If Ave
take the Lord's Avords iu the simple literal sense, we learn from them
the useful lesson, that to continue to be the objects of the Lord's love
we must keep his commandments. He loves the obedient, but not the
disobedient. He does not here say that if Ave Avould abide in Ms love,
we must love him in return, but that avc must keep his commandments.
No doubt reciprocal love is implied. But loving aud doing are so m-
timately connected, that one cannot exist Avithout the other. Of the
tAvo it might be supposed that obedience was most capable of existing

Chap. X V] ST. JOHN. 363
alone. But there is no true obedience which is not willingly rendered,
and what is done willingly is so far done lovingly. The lesson which
our Lord inculcates in this instance is a most important one. He
teaches that obedience is the foundation on which love rests, without
AA'hich it has no real existence. Love in the heart is God's throne,
obedience in the life is his footstool. Judgment and justice are the
support of his throne ; and where these are not, his dommion in the
heart must end. In the spiritual sense, as Ave haA'e seen, to abide in
the Lord's love is to be a subject of his love — to have his love abiding
m us. And thus understood, we must see still more clearly, that if
we would abide m his love, we must keep his commandments. His
commandments are the laws of love. They proceeded from his loA'e,
and Avere designed to lead us to it ; and when led to it, to preserve us
m it. The divine laAvs Avere not given to tell us Avhat divine justice
requhes us to do that we may escape hell, but to teach us what divine
love desires us to do, that we may gain heaven. The divine command
ments are the laAvs of life, not of death. They are the laws of love,
and so love is the fulfilling of the laAv. In this, too, our Lord is our
pattern. He deshes us to keep his commandments, that Ave may abide
in his love, even as he kept his Father's commandments, and abides in
his love. The Lord is the Man in Avhom all may see what they, as
men, are required to do. By keeping his Father's commandments, the
Lord abides in his Father's love. He fulfilled the whole law ; and it
was because the Avhole laAv was the laAv of love, that the Lord abode
m the Father's love by doing it. By inscribing the eternal and immut
able laAA's of order and righteousness on his humanity, he became order
itself and righteousness itself And the Son abides in the Father's
love, because he realized m himself all that the divine love desired
and all that the divine Avisdora requhed. Even so must we, in our
measure and degree, do the Lord's commandments, if Ave Avould abide
in his love.
11. That the Lord's commandments were the laws of lUe, obedience
to Avhich is the means of obtaining it, is further evident from the Avords
AvMch the Lord now utters. These things have I spoken unto you, that
my joy might remain in you, and thut your joy might be full. The
Lord's joy, as it is in Mmself, is the blessedness arising from his OAvn
perfections, and from imparting them to the chUdren of men. To
have the Lord's joy remaining in us, we must have a measure of his per
fections, for thence only can we have a measure of his blessedness. The
joy of Avhich the Lord spake was especiaUy the joy which he had by
accomplishing the work of redemption. Love for the human race was

364 ST, JOHN. [Chap. XV.
that which prompted--the Lord to come into the world to redeem men ;
and divme joy is the fruit of the realized purpose of divine love. This
joy the Lord desires to impart to us, and to preserA'-e in us. But it
cannot be imparted to us iu any other way than that by which the
Lord himself acquired it. He who came to have divine joy had been
a man of soitoavs. He endured all the sorrows humanity could endure
in resisting and overcoming temptation. So also must Ave pass through
his sorrows if we Avould have his joy dwelling in us ; and that our joy
may be full, we must fully conquer in the conflict Avith the devU, the
Avorld, and the flesh. This is a Avork that can never be complete in us
as it was in the Lord. It is enough that Ave earnestly striA'e after it,
as Ave must strive after perfection, although Ave never can be perfect.
Indeed, our perfection consists in going on unto perfection. Our ful
ness of joy consists in its ever increasing in fulness, as we increase in
perfection, Avhich we may to infinity and eternity.
12. This is my commandment. That ye love one another, as I huve
loved you. This is the ncAv commandment Avhich our Lord gave his
disciples, and Avhicli we have already considered (chap. xiii. 34). As
introduced here, it expresses the duty, which the Lord Avas now en
forcing on the disciples, of keeping his commandments, as the means
of abiding in his love. Love to the Lord is to be manifested in love
to the neighbour. Nay, the Lord's love in us is the love of the neigh
bour. The Lord's love, as reA'ealed and as given to us, is the love of
his creatures ; and this love iu us, by its very nature, prompts us to
love one another, and to love one anotlier cA'en as he has loved us.
13. Love is to be shoAvn by the sacrifices it makes as well as by the
benefits it confers. Greater love hcdh no man than this, that a man
luy down his life for his friends. If Ave are to love one another as the
Lord has loved us, Ave have in his loA'e to us an example for our imita
tion. He laid doAvn his life, not for his friends onlj', but for his enemies.
" Scarcely for a righteous man will one die : yet, peradventure, for a
good man some Avould even dare to die. But God commendeth his
love to us, in that, Avhile Ave Avere yet sinners, Christ died for us "
(Ram. A'. 7, 8). No; greater love bath no man than this, that a man
lay doAvn his life for his friends. But Jesus Avas not a man, he AA-as
the man. Humanity in its greatest perfection was embodied and
exemplified in Him. And he, therefore, did Avliat none other man
did, he died not only for his friends but for his enemies. He does not
here set forth this feature of his OAvn character — this Avonderful and
unexampled display of love. He onl.y directs the minds of his disciples
to the greatest of aU human loves — the love Avliioh prompts one to lay

Chap. XV.J ST. JOHN. 365
doAvn his life for Ms friends. The Lord laid doAvn his life for his dis
ciples. They had been his enemies, and the enmity of their hearts Avat
far from being yet entirely overcome. The Lord had not yet com
pletely conquered the grand enemy, the devU, avIio stUl held the
human race, as well as every human mind, in bondage. He was now
addressmg MmseU to those Avho had followed their Lord in his divine
Avork, so far as to have become friends of him AA'hom the Avoiid hated,
and against Avlioin aU the poAvers of darkness Avere combined.
14. Jesus teaches us Avho are Ms friends. Ye ca-e my friends,
if you do whatsoever I command you. If friendship is formed
and cemented by love, tben friendship, lUie love, must rest ou
virtuous action. But in the bond of friendship betAveen the Sa
viour and his disciples there is something peculiar. Friends are
bound to each other not only by mutual love, but by mutual obli
gations, and these obligations, like the love Avhich they manU'est and
sustam, are generally equal. But the friendship of the Lord and
his disciples rests on conditions that respect the disciples only. " Ye
are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." He is at once
the Author and the Object of these conditions ; the disciple only is
subject to them. There are indeed means on the Lord's part, AA'hich
are laAvs of order, according to which his friendship for the disciple
acts ; but these laAvs originate in himself, and are himself, for divhie
law is but another name for divine Avisdom, or for the mode in Avhioli
wisdom, as the law of divme loA-e, operates. His wisdom is a law unto
his disciples, wMch they are to receive from him, and Avhose commands
they are to obey as his. The disciples are his friends if they do AvMxt-
soever he commands them. It is worthy of our attention that the
Lord so constantly impresses upon Ms disciples the necessity of keep
ing his commandments, Avhich he makes a condition of every blessing
which he promises to bestoAV upon them. There is uo difference in
respect of obedience between the friend and the servant, of Avhoui the
Lord proceeds to speak. Both are recpiired to obey His commandments,
the oMy difference betAveen them bemg the difference in the intelli
gence and motive by which their obedience is distinguished. Abra^
ham Avas called the friend of God (Isa. xli. 8), because he repre
sented those who are principled in love to the Lord; and in agreement
with this the apostle James teUs us that Abraham Avas called the
friend of God because he showed his faith by his Avorks (ii. 23),
15. The Lord continues. Henceforth I ccdl you not servants; for the
servant knoweth not what his Lorcl doeth . hut I have ccdled you friends ;
for all tilings I have heard of my Fcdher, I mude known unto ycm.

366 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XV.
The disciples had been in the condition of servants ; now they were
raised to the dignity of friends. A servant is one Avho obeys his
master from a sense of duty, or for the sake of reward ; a friend is one
Avho serves another from disinterested love. Obedience from a sense
of duty is spiritual servitude ; obedience from a feeling of love is
spiritual freedom ; and when the disciple has passed from the first
state to the second, he is no longer the servant but the friend of God.
Our Lord explains the ground of difference betAveen these states and con
ditions. The servant knoweth not Avhat his Lord doeth. Before one can
be even a faithful servant, ho must know the law of his master, but he
knows it only as an authoritative command Avhich he is bound to obey.
He knoAvs the Lord's aa'UI, but he knoAvs not Ms reason and purpose m
enforcing it. This belongs to a higher state ; and is described by the
Lord m the Avords, " all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you." Whenever the Lord speaks of his F'ather, he
speaks of his own indAvelling divinity as distinguished from his human
ity, and of his oavu divine love as distinguished from his divine Avisdom.
W^hat tbe Lorcl makes knoAvn to his disciples from his Father is what
he communicates to them from his love, and what they receive as a
message and a laAv of love. The Lord ever speaks from love, but those
to whom he speaks do not ahvays hear and obey him in love. But
the Lord says, " all things that I have heard of my Father I have made
known unto you." TMs is like tbe declaration respectmg the Holy
Spirit, " he shall lead you into all truth," aU implying fMness, accord
ing to our measure and degree of reception. The fMness of the disciple
is an image of the Lord's fMness. The Lord's expression imphes, that
he, as our Friend, in his unbounded love reveals aU his mind to those
he calls his friends, making them the depositories of Ms iumost and
secret thoughts, for " the secret of the Lord is Avitli them that fear
Mm" (Psa. xxv. 14).
16. The cause as AveU as the conditions of our being raised from the
state of servants to that of friends is of the Lord. Ye have not chosen
me, but J have chosen you, and orduined you, thut ye should go and
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Fcdher in my name, he may give it you. The
twelve were chosen to their apostleship by the Lord, and Avere ap-
pomted to preach the gospel, and to brmg souls to him, as the frMt of
theh labour. But it is doubtfM U Jesus now adifressed them as
apostles, and not rather simply as (hsciples. The term and general
scope of Ms adiUess have more reference to CMistian than to official
life and character. It is in this light that Ave mtend to consider them.

Chap. XV.] ST. JOHN. 367
The Lord's Avords are true of all disciples. They have not chosen him,
but he has chosen them. Their salvation is begun, carried on, and per
fected by him. The Avork is not done Avithout their consent and co-opera
tion ; but the Lord is the Author and the Agent, AvhUe they are only the
recipients and re-agents. ' ' AYe love God because he Mst loved us. " His
love for us is the producing cause of our love to him. AVe have not
chosen him, but he has chosen us ; and not only chosen us, but ordained
us ; chosen us by his love, ordained us by his wisd om. We are his chosen
or elect ones Avhen we receive his love into our hearts, and Ave are Ms or
dained or appointed ones Avhen Ave receive his truth mto our understand
ings ; for then our affections are drawn into conjunction Avith his love, and
our thoughts are brought mto a state of heavenly order. But the Lord
says that he chose and ordained his (Usciples, that they should go and
brmg forth fruit, and that their fruit might remain. The Lord's desire
and mtention are that Ms disciples should be fruitfM m good Avorks.
They are to go, by Uvmg in accordance with the truth, which is the
way that leads to goodness ; and to bring forth fruit, by maMfesting
theh love and faith in a lUe of justice and sincerity ; their fruit is to
remain by theh bemg faitMM unto death. The Lord desires his
disciples shoMd do aU this, that whatsoever they ask the F'ather
m the Son's name, the Father may do it. The Lord had already said
(chap. xiv. 13), that AvhatsocA'er the disciples asked the Father in his
name he woMd do it : here he says the Father wUl do it. To receive
from the Father is to receive of the Lord's love ; to receive from
the Son is to receive of his wisdom. But Avhat the disciple deshes
he is to ask in the Lord's name, not certainly by approaching the
Father with the name of Christ upon Ms hps, but with the spirit of
CMist m his heart, bemg fiUed with the spirit of the Lord's humility
and meekness as the sphit of his devotion.
17. These things I command you, that ye love one another. Hoav
impressive is this lesson thus once more repeated ! This, the Lord's
new commandment, to love one another, as he had loved them, by
Avhom all men are to know them to be his disciples, is the object of
aU the Lord's teacMng, the end of aU his commandments. WeU
might the (Uvine Teacher iterate and impress this lesson on his disciples !
No lesson of Christian duty is more diflficMt to learn. Much as his
immediate disciples stood in need of havmg it repeatedly and solemnly
impressed upon them, those of all subsequent times have required it stUl
more. With how Uttle of that love, Avith Avhich the Lord loved Ms
(Usciples, have they loved one another ! With Ms teachmg and ex
ample before them, have not his professed disciples, both individuaUy

368 ST, JOHN. [Chap, XV.
and as nations, warred against each other ? Hoav many, who profess to
believe iu him and to pray in his name, pursue their own interest
Avithout due regard to the welfare of their neighbour. If Ave are desir
ous of being the disciples of Christ, we should endeavour to show that
Ave are his disciples indeed, by keeping his commandments, as the oMy
true way in which love to him and to each other can be manifested.
AVliUe the disciples are commanded to love one another, they are
Avarned to expect to be hated by the Avorld. As the Lord is the
supreme object of love by the good, so is he the supreme object of hate
by the Avicked. He gives his disciples this as a lesson of consola
tion and encouragement — that the world hated hira before it hated
them. Properly understood and considered, this is trMy encouraging
and consoling. The Avorld's hatred is less dangerous to the disciple
from the Lord having previously been the object of it. He has stilled
the enemy and the avenger. The hatred of the world, since the Lord
o\'ercame it, if not less malignant, is less dangerous. This the Lord
teaches in a subsequent part of his address, Avhen he exhorts Ms dis
ciples to be of good cheer, since he had overcome the Avorld. Such as
the hatred of the Avoiid is, the disciple has to endure it. But endur
ance is only a negative virtue. The Christian disciple must turn all
persecution into a means of improvement.
19. The opposition of the world is to be expected by those who are
not of it. //' ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but
because ye are not ofthe world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore fhe world hateth you. So long as a man is m the world as
one of it, he is not as such liable to ojjposition from it. AA'orldly men
indeed hate and injure one another, not, however, because they are
opposeii to each other on worldly principles, but because they are
rivals hi their Avorldy aims and interests. The hatred of the world to
those Avho are not of the world is founded in principle, and cannot
fail to produce antagonism. Yet the words of our Lord in their spiri
tual sense are to be understood of oppiosite principles in the mind of
the disciple himself The world, in the individual application, is the
Avorldly part of our nature — the natural mind Avith aU its natural
thoughts and inclinations ; and the disciples are the spiritual principles
Avhioh arc acquired during regeneration. At first, even our spiritual
principles are in our natural mind. As man advances in the regenerate
life, these are elevated out of the natural mind into the spiritual mind.
Then are they chosen out of the Avoiid, and are not of the world ¦
therefore the Avorld hateth them. There is opposition, and, therefore
conflict, betAveen the Avorld and heaven m our OAvn minds, TMs con-

Chap. XV.] ST. JOHN. 369
flict continues till the Avorld is overcome. But the conquest is not
now. At the stage of the neAv life, to which this period of the Lord's
life relates, the hatred and persecution are in full vigour.
20. AA^hUe engaged in conflict the disciples are to draw comfort and
derive strengtii from the Lord's teaching and example. Remember the
word which 1 said unto you. The servant is not greater than Ms lord.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have
kept my sayings, they will keep yours also. The spiritual memory is
that of the inner life. Spiritual remembrance is the reproduction, as
principles, of truths we have acquired as knowledge. It is thus that
we are to remember the word which Jesus has said unto us, that the
servant is not greater than his lord. Jesus had said this to them during
his present discourse (xiii. 16), but he now adds the warning, that
as the Jews had persecuted him, they would also persecute them. No
disciple can expect to escape the persecution that Jesus experienced.
Yet the kind of persecution which the Lord underwent from his out
ward enemies is not often the lot of his disciples in these days. There
are, however, inAvard persecutions which our Lord underwent Avhich
his disciples in aU time have to endure. Inward persecutions are
temptations, and it is to these that our Lord especially refers. These
the disciples cannot escape, for they are a necessary part of the process
of their purification and salvation. But there is another and happy
part of the Lord's experience which the disciple may expect to realize,
" If they have kept ray sayings, they AviU keep yours also." The
Avorld to which the disciples Avere to be sent consists of two classes —
those who hate and persecute the Lord and his disciples, and those
who accept the glad tidings Avhich they bring. Here is encourage
ment. Those who share in the Lord's persecution, shall also share in
his success. B,ut let us consider this in relation to ourselves and our
spiritual lUe. In our natural state we place the servant above Ms
lord : we place self above God, the world above heaven, the natural
above the spiritual, knowledge above goodness. We have first to
learn, and then to remember, that this state of inverted order is to be
rectified : that the servant is not greater than his lord. To bring the
servant into subordination to his lord, in all matters pertammg to the
mind and hfe, we must be the subjects of that tribulation which is
meant by persecution. The Avorld, from which this persecution comes,
is the world in ourselves— the world as the object of a ruling love.
When the love of the world is overcome, that which once opposed,
will be induced to hear the Lord and his Avord, and wUl acknoAvledge the
SaA'iour and keep his sayings. When the enmity of the natural mind
2 A

370 S'l. JOHN. [Chap. XV.
is removed, it will become subject and obedient to the spiritual ; every
thought being brought into subjection to the divine authority, all will
contribute to its support. In this avc IoUoav our Lord ; for he endured
the conflict, and he overcame aU opposition in rebeUious human nature,
aud brought it into perfect harmony with his eternal divinity.
21. But all these things will they do unto yuu for my name's sake,
fur they know not him that sent me. In regard to the disciples, the
hatred they incurred by their being servants of Jesus Chiist, was on
account of the principles of their master, which they practised and
exemplified. In relation to U.S, in our sj)iritual life and experience,
the inward persecutions which we undergo are for the Lord's sake. It
is his truth in us that is the primary and ultimate object of opposition
on the part of our oavu evils and errors. The hatred and persecution
here spoken of are understood to be directed immediately against the
disciples. But the disciples in us are the principles which we have
received from the Lord ; and when these are hated and opposed, the
Lord himself is hated and opposed. It is said that the Avorld Avill do
this to the disciples of the Lord, as they had done it to the Lord him
self, because they knoAV not the Father that sent hhn. AA^hen men
knoAv not and feel not the love of God, they hate and persecute the
truth of God. And so far as Ave know not the Lord's love, or have
not that love in us, Ave have a natural hatred of his truth. The Lord's
truth is sent of his love — it proceeds from it, as the sun's light comes
of the sun's heat. And as men that love the darkness hate the light,
because it makes their evUs manifest; so we, even Avhen we have
entered on the ncAV life, so far as our corrupt nature prevails, hate
the light, because Ave have so little practical knowledge of the divine
love from which it proceeds. AVe do these thmgs to the Son, because
we know not the Father.
22. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sill ; but now they have no cloak for their sin. We are not to un
derstand that the Joavs avouM have been sinless, if the Lord had not
come and spoken unto them. They Avould not have been guilty of the
sin of hating and persecuting him personally. They hated him per
sonally because they hated the puritj' and beauty of his character, as
the AA'"ord made flesh, as the true Light. Their knoAvledge was the
cause of their condemnation. " This is the condemnation, that light
is come into the Avorld, and men loved darkness, because their deeds
Avere evil." Yet the Lord " came not to condemn the world, but
that the world through Mm might be saved." But Avhat is salvtxtion
to the well disp)0sed, is condemnation to those of an opposite character.

Chap. XV.J S'T JOHN. 371
It is not the Ught that condemns them, but their opposition to the
light. The nature of light is, to make manifest. Darkness covers and
excuses evil ; not the darkness of wilfM error, but of involuntary
ignorance. AVhen the light is come, men have no cloak for their sin,
and are Avithout excuse. So long as evil is in the wiU as a natural in
clination, undetected aud unjudged by tmth in the understanding, it does
not condemn. AATien the light comes and makes the evil manifest, hcAvlio
continues to love and do it is guilty of sin, aud liable to condemnation.
23. He that liatefh me hateth my Father cdso. The Lord had
said that the Avorld hated him, because they had not kiioAvn the
F'ather : now he says that in hating him they hate the Father also.
As those who have not the love of God hate Ms truth, so those who
hate the truth of God hate Ms love Avhich it reveals. Love and truth
are one. Love is the life of truth, truth is the Ught of love. No per
son can love tbe one and hate the other, no person hate the one and
love the other. The love and truth of the Lord are his Avill and his
Avisdom. No one can hate the Avisdom of God and love the Avill of
God ; no one can hate the Lord's will without hating his wisdom.
Tmth is the light ; aud no man can hate the light of God without
hating the love of God also.
24. If I lujd not done among them the worlcs which none other mun
did, they had not had sin: but now huve they both seen and hated
both me and my Father. The Lord now speaks of his works, as he
had already spoken of his Avords, as condemnatory of those Avho beheld
them and yet remained unbelievers. The Lord's works have the same
relation to his words as his love has to his wisdom. Works are the
outbirths of willing, Avords of thinking. In this also the Lord speaks
of exhibiting the nature of the Father, or of his oavu infinite love.
" The works that I do are not mine, but the Father's that dweUeth in
me." But the Lord says, " If I had not done among them the works
Avhich none other man did, they had not had sin." His works Avere
as superior to those of other men, as his nature was to theirs.
Other men had done as great miracles as be had done, even to the
raismg of the dead. But there Avas a greatness in the Lord's works
that Avas iu the works of no other man. He did them in Ms own
name and by Ms own poAver : all others did theirs by a poAver above
themselves, even the power of Jesus, as God, both before and after
the incarnation. It may seem to make no difference to those who
beheld the works. But the Lord's works, like his words, Avere with
poAver ; aud His outward aud Aisible works, unlike those of other men,
Avere attended Avith iuAvard and visible Avorks that transcended all

372 ST JOHN. [Chap, XV.
finite power and agency. The Lord's Avorks of redemption and glori
fication were synchronous with his works of healmg the sick and rais
ing the dead to life, Avhich represented as weU as accompanied the
greater works. The Avork of redemption restored men to the full
possession of free Avill, Avhich had been partially destroyed by the
preponderance of the power of heU, and this left men without excuse,
if they did not choose the good and refuse the evU. When men
possess complete free-wiU, not to choose the good and refuse the evil,
is sin. And Avhen men see the works and hear the Avords of Jesus,
and do not repent and believe, they see and hate both the Son and
the Father — they reject the love of God from their hearts and the
Avisdom of God from their understandings.
25. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is
written in their law. They hated me without a cause. This is written
iu the Psalms xxxv. 19, xciv. 4, but it is only by this reference to
them that we certamly know them to be prophetic of the Lord. The
hatred of the Jews was indeed Avithout a just cause, so far as related
to the Lord ; the cause Avas in themselves. And so is all hatred of the
Holy One. But the less just the cause the deeper the hatred. The
Jews did not hate the Lord from any necessity which prophecy laid
upon them. Foresight does not imply fore-appointment. Considered
m relation to ourselves individually, Ave may see the fuU force of the
, saying that this Avas Avritten in their law. The laAv Avliich condemns
us is that which is ours. The divine laAv never condemns us tUl it
has been revealed to us, and Ave have been instructed in it. A law
that Ave knoAV not is not our law : it is no laAV to us ; and where
ihere is no law there is no transgression. But Avhen the divine laAv
has become our laAv ; if we hate the Lord, it must be Avithout a cause ;
for the law shows God to be all pure aud merciful ; and to hate the
quaUties of such a Being there can be no just cause, therefore nothin"'
that can be called a cause. But even this causeless hatred is written
in our law. If we hate without a cause, it is the fulfilment of the
law that is within us, for that law teUs that if Ave are evil Ave shall
cherish this causeless hatred. So does evil itself in our oavu hearts
hate AA'hat is pure, Avitliout any cause out of our oavu impurity.
26, 27. A new aud more hopeful state of things Avas fast approach
ing. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father,
he shull testify of me ; and ye also shull bear witness, becuuse ye have
been with me from the beginning. The descent of the Holy Sphit, the
nature and effects of Avhich were miraculously exhibited on the day of

(Map. XV.] ST. JOHN. 373
Pentecost, and the witness of those who had been with the Lord from
the beginning, produced a great and beneficial change m the world.
So long as the disciples, by "endeavouring to keep the unity of the
Sphit in the bond of peace, Avere one body, and one spirit " (Eph. iv.
3, 4), the cause of Jesus prospered. But when, instead of carrying on
a united conflict Avith the evils and errors of the Avorld, they began to
dispute among themselves upon points of doctrine, the poAver of Chris
tianity declined, both in the church and in the world. And amongthe dis
pirited points AA'hich divided the minds of CMistians, and ultimately led to
their separation into different and hostile bodies, one was this : Whether
the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, or from the F'ather txnd the Son.
This is stiU one of the points of difference between the tAvo great sections
of the uureformed chinch. The Latin, or Roman Catholic church,
maintains that the Holy Sphit proceeds from the Father and the Son, the
Greek church maintains that he proceeds from the Father only. When
the Father and the Son are regarded as two persons, there may be some
difficMty in settlmg this question. But Avhen the Father and the Son
are understood to mean the divinity and humanity in the person of
the Lord, Ave can easily see what the truth on the sul ject must be. To
maintain that the Spirit proceeds from the Father directly, and not
tMough the Son, is the same as it Avould be to maintain thtit a man's
Avords and actions proceed from Ms soul but do not come through his
body. The language of the Lord on tMs point is deserving of parti
cular attention. He speaks of the Spirit as proceeding from the Father,
but says that he avUI send it. AA''heii it is said that the Son sends the
Holy Spirit, which yet proceeds from the Father, Ave are taught that
Avhile the Spirit proceeds from the Lord's divinity, it is nevertheless
sent on its mission of regeneration and salvation by the Lord's Human
ity, havmg all the poAver of salvation which the Lord possesses in
virtue of his manifestation hi the flesh. AATietlier Ave caU the Father
and the Son the tUvmity and the humanity, or the divine love and
Avisdom, we may see that the Father is that principle m the Lord from
which, and that the Son is that principle hy which, the Holy Spirit
comes to us. Yet the F'ather does not send the Spirit through the
Son, but the Son sends the Spirit from the Father. The humanity
of the Lord is infinitelj' and eternally active, sending this Divine
Spirit forth, endued with aU the virtue of His humanity, to make
men like their Saviour, sanctifying them as he has sanctified himseU.
And when the Spirit of the Lord in his divine humanity is seconded
m its operation by the co-operation of the truths of revelation, the
human mind, if inclined, is capable of receiving aU the benefits which

374 ST. JOHN, [Chap. XVL
have been provided for its being rencAved by the Spirit of the Lord.
If Ave consider this subject m reference to our individual experience,
Ave may see its practical truth. When the Lord has subdued the
poAvers of darkness in our corrupt natural mind, and has ascended
glorified into our spiritual mind, noAv brought into a state of heavenly
order, then his Spirit descends in Pentecostal abundance, and fills the
goods and truths Ave have acquired from his Word, as it fiUed the
apostles, and makes them speak Avith ucav tongues, as the Spirit gives
them utterance. AVhen the testimony of the Spirit and the Avitness of
the Word thus unite in setting forth the Lord's redemption and salva
tion, not only as they Avere once effected in the Avorld, but as they have
been wrought iu our hearts and minds, then is he glorified in us, and
Ave are made perfect iu him.

CHAPTER XVL

This chapter is a continuation of the Lord's discourse to his disciples,
but there is a distinction and yet a connection between AA'hat the Lord
now says and Avliat he had already addressed to them. He had
already instructed them on tAvo important subjects. He had declared
aud explained to them the nature of the connection existing betAveen
himself aud the Father, showing them that the Father dAvelt Avithin
him, and did the mighty works which they saw Mm perform ; and he
had instructed them as to the nature of the counectiou Avliich existed
between himself and them, Avhich is hke that of the vine and its
branches, a connection so intimate and vital, that theh very existence as
usefid members of his church depended on their abiding in him, and
his Avords abiding in them. In the present chapter the Teacher speaks
of the effects Avhich the descent of the H0I3' Sphit Avould have upon
thera and upon the world.
1. Having instructed them, both by example and precept, sym
bolically and by plain teaching, to prepare for the Avork that lay
before them, and for the glory by which their fidelity and virtue Avere
to be rewarded, by cultivating humility and charity, love to him aud
obedience to his commandments, Jesus iioav proceeds to say uuto
them. These things have I spoken unto you, thut ye should not be
offended. To be offended is to stumble. It Avas to prevent the dis
ciples from sinking under the weight of the duties aud trials which
aAvaited them, thtit the Lord forcAvarned them of the hatred and perse-

Chap. XVL] ST. JOHN, 375
cutions he knew they would have to encounter. To be forewarned is
to be forearmed. It is not necessary nor is it possible that the
Christian disciple should have an exact knoAA'ledge of Avhat is to befall
hhn in his spiritual pilgrimage, but it is expedient for him to knoAV
that his is a severe and perUous journey, iu Avhicli both courage and
endurance are necessary, and that success is impossible unless the Spirit
of the Lord go with him. The Christian must kiioAV that, in passing
tMough the Avilderness, he has a Guide and Comforter, Avho has trod the
path before him, and that the Captain of his salvation was made perfect
tMough suffering, that his foUoAvers may not faint and stumble in theway.
2. But the Lord proceeds to tell his disciples of stUl severer trials
than those of simple persecution. They shull put you out ofthe sijnu-
gogues : yea, the time cometh, thut whosoever killeth you will think
thcd he doeth God service. This Avas fuUilled to the letter. Yet Ave
need not uow be surprised at the Jcavs persecuting the Christians unto
death, seeing that themselves have often done so both to the Jcavs
and to each other. Looking more deeply, Ave find a more spiritual
and practical lesson. AVliile the prediction relates literally to the
conduct of the Jcavs and others toAvards the early Christians, it re
lates spirituaUy, not to the apostles themselves, but to the principles
¦«'hich they represented. A time Avould come, our Lord teaches, when
the Christian church itself would reject the principles of pure rehgion,
given iu the truths of the Word, meant by the disciples, as un
worthy of a place in the synagogue, and Avhen they Avould even de
prive them of spiritual vitality, meant by kUling the disciples, and
every one who committed this deed Avould think that he did God
service. The idea of servmg God by destroying the messengers,
whether persons or principles, which he sends, imphes as it expresses
a state of mind, in which men caU evil good and good evU, and put
darkness for light and light for darkness — when their notions of God
and of his AA^'ord are the opposite of the truth.
3, TMs deadly persecution of the disciples has the same cause as the
persecution which the Lord himself endured. And these things wiU
they do unto you, because they huve not known the Father, nur me.
Those Avho persecuted the Lord did so because tiiey kncAv not the
Father ; those who persecute the disciples do so because they knoAv
not the Father and the Son. The Father and the Son being the
divine love and wisdom, and the disciples representing the goods and
truths of the Word, in which the love and wisdom of the Lord are
present; those who reject these principles, or who destroy them iu
themselves, refuse to recognise or receive the love and wisdom of the

376 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVI.
Lord which are in them. Those, therefore, who reject the Lord's Avis
dom from their understandings, do so because they have not his love
in their hearts ; and those who reject the truths and precepts of his
AVord, do so because they possess nothing of his Avisdom or love. But
hoAv are men to have a knoAvledge of the Lord but from revelation ?
All our intellectual knoAvledge of the Lord comes from the revealed
AVord. But Avhile the Word teaches us by an external way, the Lord
himself is teaching us by an internal Avay, inspiring us AAith the love
and perception of the truths AA'hich the Avritteu AVord conveys to our
minds. And it is only so far as we open our hearts and understaud
ings to the offered love and light, that Ave truly understand and receive
the outward teacMng.
4. But these things have I told you, that, when the time shcdl come,
ye may remember that 1 fold you of them. And these things I said not
unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. Much of Avhat the
Lord addressed to Ms disciples they entirely forgot, till the event, or a
repetition of his vA'ords, recalled it to their minds. The Lord's object
m telling them Avas, that, Avhen tbe time was come, they nught remem
ber that he had told them before. This fulfilment of his Avords Avas
no doubt intended to strengthen their faith and confidence m Jesus,
and enable them to suffer Avith more fortitude. But its spiritual lesson
for us is not less importaiit. Truths previously received are conMmed
by exiierience, and Avhen they are thus confirmed, they pass iuto the
inner memory, and remain inscribed on it for ever. It is then, too, that
Ave remember that it Avas the Lord Avho first told us of the things Ave
come to know by experience ; for they are thus connected Avith Mm as
theh author. These things the Lord told not his disciples at the be
ginning, because he Avas yet Avith them. The beginning of the regene
rate life is a time when all things are bright and joyous. A ucav day
has daAvued upon the miud, and the light of the morning sun bathes
the Avhole landscape in beauty. But storm and shade come on be
times ; and when the sun is darkened, and even the moon does not
giA-e her light, and the very stars are fallen from heaven, then is the
time of sorrow. It is happy for us that the beginning of our spiritual,
like that of our natural life, is bright and hopeful. And it is so be
cause the Sun of righteousness has risen upou us with healing in his
wings. It is true that the Lord is AAith us then only externally and
intellectually. Our first reception of the truth is superficitU, and to a
considerable extent natural. AVe knoAv the Lord after the flesh. This
is the time the Lord is Avith us, as he Avas Avitli the disciples during his
pilgrimage on earth. In early states, our Saviour tells us not of the
BorroAvful times that are coming upon us.

Chap, XVL] ST. JOHN. 377
5, 6. The time comes, hoAvever, AA'hen they must be revealed ; aud
AAith the disciples this time had arrived. But now I go my way to
him that sent me ; caid none of you askefh me. Whither guest thou ?
But because I have suid these things ¦unto you, sorrow hcdh filled your
hearts. The Lord had already said to his disciples, " AVhither I
go ye knoAv." AA'hy then ask him, " AVhither goest thou ?" They
kneAV and they kncAv not — they kncAv but did not understand. They
gave Avay to grief because they kucAv not the bright side of the CA'ent
of Ms departure. Their hearts Avere filled Avith sorroAv at the thought
of Ms leaving them ; they kiieAv not of his glory beyond. They
thought oMy of their oavu loneliness. The Lord was going to the
Father that sent him. The humanity Avas about to be glorMed, the
Divine AVisdom to return into the bosom of the Divine Love, frruu
Avhence it came. In regard to our individual experience; this going away
takes place Avheu the Lord's truth, hitherto in the naturtxl mind, as
the Lord had been in the natural Avoild, is elevated mto the spiritual
mind, as the Lord ascended into heaven. This is not, hoAvever, the
time of sorroAv. The disciples do not seem to have sorroAved on ac
count of the Lord's ascension. They then kncAv that he was alive,
and was passing into glory, and that his kingdom Avas not of this
Avorld. It was when he Avas taken from them by death, and Avhen
they kneAV not of his coming resurrection, that they mourned aud
Avept. The Lord had told them before, that he Avould rise again the
third day ; but the Spirit had not yet come, to bring all tMngs tu
their remembrance, whatever Jesus had said uuto thera. This going
away is a time of trial, for then the truth which has been AAith us as
our guide and support, seems to be lost, aud to have left us Avithout
stay or comfort. The nature aud severity of this trial the Lord ex
plams to his disciples, as we shaU see iu the sequel
7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you thcd I
go awuy : for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
hut if I depart, I will send him unto you. The Lord's departure out
of the world unto the Father Avas the completion of that work, Avithout
Avhich salvation AvoMd have been impossible. The union of the Human
with the Divme was the oMy means by Avhich the human race could
have conjunction Avith God. Expedient therefore it Avas for the dis
ciples that the Lord shoMd go aAvay. And U he had uot departed, the
Comforter coMd not have come. There would have been no Holy
Sphit to come and regenerate men, U the humanity of the Lord had
not been perfected by the extremUy of suffering. TMs is a great
truth, as the Lord said, " I teU you the truth"— a tmth which it is

378 ST. JOHN, [Chap. XVL
necessary for all to know. In these words the Lord would seem to
teach Ms disciples, and teach us through them, that the presence of
the Holy Spirit was stUl more necessary for them than his own. He
himself was the Holy Spirit; and the presence of the Holy Spirit was
his spiritual presence with them. He also declared that if he did not
go aAvay, the Comforter would not come unto them. The Holy Spirit
being the Spirit of the Lord, as the SaA'iour, it could not come until he
had departed, and sent it from himself as the Spirit of salvation. Jesus
here uses tAvo different terms to describe his remoA'al from the disciples.
Their literal meaning is different, as going from, and going to. The
Lord goes away from the disciples as Divine Tmth, and he departs
to the Father as Divine Good. AVhen the Lord had arrived at com
plete union Avitli the leather, he Avas no longer divine truth, but divine
good even as to his humanity ; and then divine truth proceeded from
him as the Holy Spirit,
8. The expediency of the Lord's departure, that the Holy Spirit
might come, appears frora the divine work Avhicli the Spirit was to per
form. And when he is come, he -will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment. Instead of reprove, it is better to read
convince. There are three distinct and most important acts, AA'hich our
Lord tells us that the Spiirit he should send Avould perform. The mis
sion of the Spirit is, to convince the world of the vices and errors AvMch
obstruct, and of the virtues and truths which promote, the establish
ment of the Lord's kingdom upou earth ; to carry to the mmds of
sinners conviction of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
9. The first thing of Avhich the Spirit is to convince the Avoiid is sin.
Of sin, because they believe not on me. Conviction of sin is the first
act of the Lord's saving power, and the first act of real conversion.
Conviction of sm is the beginning of a ucav life of righteousness. Men
cannot begin a righteous life untU they begin to forsake sin, and they
cannot begin to forsake sin untU they are convinced they are sinners.
AVhat a great idea does it give us of the Avork of the Lord's Spirit, that
he Avill convince the Avorld of sin ! Sin had ruined mankind ; and had
brought the Lord into the world, and had made Mm a sufl'erer, and
had put him to death ; and uoav the Spirit descends from Him, Avho
" came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the
flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, Avho
Avalk not after the fiesh, but after the spirit." The reason which the
Lord gives for its being necessary for the Spirit to come, that he may
convince men of shi, is, because they believe not in him. The sm of
which the Spirit is to convince men is unbelief in the Lord the Savi-

Ch.vp. XVL] ST. JOHN, 379
our. There can be no true knowledge of sin Avithout a knoAvledge of
Mm against AA'hom the sin is committed ; and no true conviction of sin,
Avithout belief in him who alone is able to forgive sin. Unbelief is
sin, because, in excludhig the acknoAvledgment of a Saviour, it excludes
the acknoAvledgment of sin. To remove this hardness of heart and
bring conviction of sin, is one of the benefits to be derived from the
influence of the Spirit. " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," was the
ansAver of an apostle to one Avho asked what he must do to be saved.
Saving faith is not mere persuasion, but is the acceptance by a penitent
heart of Jesus as the Saviour, Avhich mcludes in it the conviction and
confession of sm, Avith a sincere purpose aud effort to forsake evU, and
live a Ufe according to the Lord's commandments.
10. The Spirit comes also to convince the Avorld of rirjldeousness.
The Spirit came to convince the world of the Lorel's righteousness,
and of righteousness as a means of salvation and happiness. It is a part
of the Christian faith, as it is a statement of the Word itself, tlud the
Lord is our Righteousness, which he became by fulfilling the laAV ; and
that our righteousness is of him. This tmth, so p)lainly stated, is not
so clearly understood. It is believed that Jesus came into the world, to
expiate the sins of men, by fulfilling the laAV they had broken, and
suffering for the guilt they had incurred ; and that sinners are saved,
not by any righteousness they can do, even by Christ strengthening
them, but solely on account of that which he has done. The mistake
that lies at the foundation of this scheme of salvation is, that sin and
righteousness are not states, written in the book of man's life, but
acts, recorded in the book of God's remembrance. It is therefore
believed that Jesus Christ could, by doing what the law required man
to do, blot out the handwriting against him, and enable God consis
tently Avith his justice, to accept him, as if he had fulfilled the laAv
MmseU. The Saviour's merit is supposed to be imputed to believers,
so that their own impurities are covered, and as it Avere concealed
from God's sight, by the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness.
Many smcerely religious persons avUI regard it as bordering on im
piety, to go so far as question the truth of this doctrine. Yet it rests on
a misconception both of the nature of sin and of righteousness. Sin
or guilt cannot be transferred, nor can righteousness or nierU be im
puted to another. He that committeth sin is the servant of sin : he
that doeth righteousness is righteous. It was to enable and induce
men to cease to be sinners by ceasing to sm, and to become righteous
by dqing righteousness, that the Lord came into the world. Hoav did
he effect it ? We may be assured it was in the best, if not in the

380 ST, JOHN. [Chap. -XVL
only, possible AA'ay, By fulfilling the laAV of righteousness, the LbrJ
became not only righteous, but Righteousness itself, because he ful
fiUed it absolutely. By his human life he magnified the laAv and
made it honourable, and became the laAv itself And he now seeks
to make us righteous, by leading us in the paths of righteousness by
the spirit and power of Ms oavu righteousness. His Sphit comes to
convince the Avorld of righteousness, by convincing us, Avhile Ave are
yet of the Avorld. that Ave have no righteousness of our oaa'ii ; that our
righteousness is of him ; and that he aa'UI make us righteous, hy
inspiring us Avitli the Spirit of Ms love, so that aU our works may be
AATOught m him, and his righteousness bc thus Avrought into us. The
origin of the Spirit's commission, and of his poAver to convince the world
of righteousness, our Lord declares to be because I go to the Father,
and ye see me no more. Jesus Avent to the Father Avhen his humaMty
was uMted to his divinity. The Father, Ave have seen, is the divme
Love or Goodness ; and this, Avhich is essential and eternal Righteous
ness, Avhen made human became our Righteousness. AVhen the Lord
said that his disciples should see him no more, he meant that they
should see him no more corporeally. Spiritually, the disciples see the
Son no more Avhen, in their experience, faith is lost in love ; when,
in the apostle's language, the Son gives up the kingdom to the Father,
that God may be all in all (1 Cor. xv. 28).
11. The Sphit, moreover, comes to convince the world of judgment,
because the pirince of this world is judged. The prince of this world
Avas judged Avhen the Lord subdued the powers of darkness, and ef
fected a judgment m the spiritual world, by wMch the good and the
evU, Avho had lived on the earth, Avere separated from each other. But
this work iu the spiritual world has its effect in the natural Avorld, m
separating good from evil hi the mmds of men ; and, as a resMt of
this, in separating the good from the evU m the world. It is weU
known that the more corrupt the times are, the less lUstinction there is
between good and evU, virtue and vice. One of the results of the
divme judgments is to bring out this distinction. The Lord comes by
his Spirit to convince the world of judgment, by enabling men to dis
cern betAveen the righteous and the Avicked, betAveen him that serveth
God and him that serveth him uot (Mal. in. 18). The beneficial
effect of the prince of this Avorld being judged is, that it restores the
balance betAveen heaven aud lieU in the other world, and betAveen the
power of good and evil in this. JS, hi the world, the poAver of evil were
to exceed the power of good, humau society coMd not long exist.
^^ ic'.icd as the Avorld is, there is in it at least as much good as evU.

CH.A.P. XVL] ST. JOHN. 381
12. The Lord proceeds, 1 have ma.ny things to say unto you, but ye
cannot hear them now. It does not appear that from this time Jesus
spoke much Avith his disciples either before or after his resurrection.
It is true he may have said many things unto them on the fcAv occa
sions on Avhioh he appeared to them and talked Avith them after he
Avas risen from the dead. One memorable instance is that of his jour
neying Avitli the two disciples to Emmaus, when, beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning himself And the extent and depth of his exposi
tions may be judged of by the testimony of the disciples themselves,
" Did not our heart burn Avithin us Avhile he talked with us by the
Avay, and whUe he opened to us the Scriptures?" (Luke xxiv. 32.)
The promise is not, however, limited to the disciples themselves whom
Jesus then addressed, but extends to the disciples in all future time.
Considering the disciples of the Lord as at once forming and represent
ing the church, the Lord's words relate to the disclosures he Avas to
make to the church of the future, as AveU as to that which was then
present. Every age and dispensation receives that measure of truth
Avhich is suited to the capacities and Avants of the people. More would
bhnd them Avith excess of light, and distract them with enigmas in
stead of mstructing them Avith knoAvledge. The Scriptures indeed
contain, so far as we knoAv, all that the church requires, or can ever
requhe, of revealed truth ; but there is no limit to its development.
13. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you
into all truth : for he shall not speak of himself; hut whatsoever he
shall hear tlud shall he speak: a,nd he will show yuu things to come.
The function of the Spirit is in this and in the following verses very
plaiMy pomted out. It is to guide the disciples into truth —
into all tmth. The Holy Sphit is the Author of Revelation : for
holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Noav,
when Revelation has been given, the function of the Holy Spirit
is to open the understanding to perceive the teaching of the Word.
The Spirit of Jehovah gave revelation ; the Spirit of Jesus gives Ulus
tration also. Therefore after Ms resurrection Jesus breathed ou his
disciples, and said, " Receive ye the Holy Spirit," and opened their
understandings that they might understand the Scriptures. But Jesus
says of the Spirit, "he shall not speak of himself; but Avhatsoever he
shaU hear that shaU he speak." The Lord speaks of the Spirit in rela
tion to himself as he speaks of Mmself m relation to the Father. The
Son speaks Avhat he hears of the Father ; the Spirit speaks what he
hears of the Son. Of course we cannot understand this language

382 ST, JOHN. [Chap. XVL
naturally. It can only be intended to express the order in which
divine ideas proceed in the divine mind, and are fiuaUy communicated
to man. Language Avhich has no reasonable meaning Avhen understood
of three divine Persons, is highly expressive AA'hen understood of three
divine Essentials, whether we think of the three Essentials as
Divinity, Humanity, and Operation, or Love, Wisdom, and Power.
Everything that comes from God originates in his love, is formed and
directed by his Avisdom, and is brought into effect by his isower. In
the language of correspondence, this is described by every divine com
munication to men coming from the Father through the Sou by the
Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not therefore speak of himself. AVhat
he imparts does not originate with him. The operation of the Spirit
is indeed Avith poAver, but it is not the operation of poAver only, else it
would ovei'Avhelm us ; nor is the operation of poAver directed by Avisdom
only, for then it Avould force conviction in us against our avUI ; but it is
the operation of poAver directed by wisdom and moved by love, which
acts upon our heart, our intellect, and our life. God is omnipotent, but
his power does nothing of itself; it is but the energy of infinite love
directed by infinite Avisdom. Well might the Lord comfort his disciples
Avith these words. But the Spirit Avhicli Avas to guide the disciples into
all truth, AA'as to shoAV them things to come. These do not necessarily
mean things that Avere to come after the Spirit itself had come, but rather
things that Avere then in progress ; things that the Lord had revealed,
or events that Avere to take place, and Avhich the Sphit was to explain
or enlighten the disciples to understand. Even supposing that the
apostles Avere gifted Avith the knoAvledge of future events, the promise,
so far as it relates to us, gives only the hope of being enlightened and
regenerated, by the Spirit of the Lord opening our understandings to
see, and our hearts to receive, the truth as it is m Jesus.
14. The Lord further says respecting the Holy Spirit, He shad
glorify me; fur he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
This, like the preceding statement, is a divine truth expressed after a
human manner. AVe cannot reasonably think of one Divine Person
taking of Avhat belongs to another, and sheAving it unto men. But we
can think of the Spirit of a Divine Person proceeding from him, carry
ing his saving gifts to his receptive creatures, and glorifying the Author
of those gifts in the salvation of their souls. The Spirit glorifies the
Lord; but he does so by taking of the Lord's and shewing it unto the
disciples. AVhen the Sphit sanctifies and saves a soul, he glorifies the
Saviour in that finished work. The sah-ation of man is the glory of
the Lord.

Chap, XVL] ST. JOHN. 38.S
15. The things which the Spirit receives from the Son are the things
which the Son received from the Father. All things that the Fcdher
hath are mine ; therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and
shcdl shew it unto you. This series of statements respecting the opera
tion of the Holy Spirit, teaches most clearly and convincingly the
nature of the distinction and relation existing between F"'atlier, Son,
and Spirit. The Lord first says of the Spirit that he shall not speak
of himself, but AvhatsoeA'er he shall hear that shall he speak. Then he
says, " he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you ;" and uoav
he says, " all things that the Father hath are mine ; therefore said I,
he shaU take of mine and sheAv it unto you.'' Does not all this plainly
teach that they must be, not three distinct divine Persons, but three
divine Essentials ? We cannot too carefully cultivate the knoAvledge
of the truth that God in Christ is God to us and Avitli us ; that no
one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to Avhoni the Son will reveal
him ; that no one cometh to the Father, and that the Father cometh
to no man, but by the Son. If the Father and the Sou be considered
as Divine Persons, this has no intelligible meaning. But these divine
declarations have a real meaning when the Father is regarded as being
the divinity and the Son the humanity in the person of the one Lord.
God in Christ is then seen to be God in his Humanity. It can also be
seen that when God glorified the human nature he assumed, he com
municated to it all the attributes of his divinity, comparatively as the
soul endows the body Avith its life and power; and that since tin.'
incarnation, God communicates with his creatures through the
medium of his humanity, comparatively as the soul of man
communicates with his felloAv-men through the medium of his body.
In the Lord's humanity the divine attributes are humanized, and thus
accommodated, tempered, and made relatively more powerful for con-
vincincr and affecting the human mind. It is because the divine
' attributes are thus humanized that they are efficacious for human salv.t-
tion. It is by tbe divinity being human and the humanity beiuL;-
divine that the Lord's presence and power are with us. From a Being
purely divine, or from a behig merely human, no saving efficacy could
proceed to the sons of men in their present state. Pure divinity has
no point of contact with faUen man ; mere humanity has no power to
restore him. Our Lord's words strikingly teach this. "AU thini^s
that the Father hath are mine ; therefore said I, that he shall take
of mine, and shaU shcAv it unto you." The things Avhich the Lord had
to sheAv his disciples, Avere the tilings of the Father, Avhich had iioav
become his OAvn. Had there been anything of the Father's which had

384 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVL
not become the Son's, or anything of the Son's -which, had not become
the Father's, it would have been of no benefit to the disciples. It was
only the things of the divinity that had become human, and the things
of the humanity that had become divine, that Avere sanctifymg and
saving — ^that were able to reach and raise fallen humaMty. But all
things of the Father's had become the Lord's ; "therefore said I, that
he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you." Let this great truth
be impressed upon the mind of every Christian disciple. It will reveal
lo him the unspeakable blessmg of having Jesus for his God and
Saviour ; for iu him is to be found aU that man can desire or need.
And as Jesus is full of grace and truth, the pronUse of the Spirit is the
promise of whatever is most needful and convenient for all who labour
and are heavy laden, and who desire to find rest for theh souls.
16. HaAing carried the minds of the disciples forward to the bright
and happy time Avhen the fruits of Ms finished work would be realized
by them, he calls them back to the present, to remmd them of the
trials through AA'hich this state Avas to be attained. A little while, and
ye shall not see me : and aguin a little while, and ye shall see me;
because I go to the Fcdher. Literally this refers to the Lord's removal
from his disciples by death, and his restoration to them by resurrection.
Spiritually, it relates to the soul's experience, Avhen passing, and when
it has passed, from death unto life. The Lord's death and resurrection,
once actual to him personally, are stiU actual iu the experience of
the disciple. To aU who foUow the Lorcl m the regenerate Ufe, a
time comes when they see Mm not after the flesh, and again a time
comes Avlien they see him after the spirit. The nature of these two
states the Lord afterwards describes. Here they are both spoken of in
reference to the Lord, as about to pass out of and corae again into the
sight or inteUectual perception of his disciples ; this therefore has re
ference to intellectual states, or states of faith. Our Mst knowled"-e
and faith are external, for our natiiral understanding sees even divme
thmgs after a natural manner. Our carnal thoughts clothe divine and
spiiitual truths with a fleshly covering ; thus do Ave still see and
know the Lord in a carnal manner. If we faithfully foUoAv the Lord
iu a life of obedience to his commandments, we pass out of this carnal
into a spiiitual state, m which we see the Lord after a spiritual
manner. The change of state is not effected Avithout trial ; for every
transition state is one of tribulation. The trial may be brief but it is
sharp. But every trial brings its reward. The temporary obscurity
is- folloAved by clearer light : the hght of the moon becomes as the
light of the sun, and the light of the sun becomes sevenfold as the light

Chap. XVLl ST. JOHN. 385
of seven days. Instead of the nocturnal light of a loveless faith, we
have the clear and warm light of the morning without clouds, produced
by the Sun of righteousness arising Avith healing in his wings. In
stead of seeing the Lord in his humiliation, we behold him hi Ms glory.
This is indicated in the Lord's own Avords, in which he employs two
different terms for seeing, the sight of him after his resurrection bemg
expressed by a more forcible terra than that employed to express the
sight of him AvhUe he was in the flesh. The sight of the sphit or
inner man is more excellent than that of the flesh or outer man.
17, 18. Certain as this change is, and real as is its experience, the
disciple who is still iu the first state cannot comprehend its nature.
Tlien said some of his disciples among themselves. What is this that he
saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me : and again a
little while, and ye shall see me : and. Because I go to the Father ?
They said therefore, Yfhat is this that he saith, A little while ? we
cannot tell what he saith. How graphic is this representation of the
state of the disciples, all unknowing, as their whole history shows
them to have been, of the nature of the Lord's kmgdom, and the
means by which it Avas to be established. And no less perfect a des
cription is it of the state of the Christian disciples of all times in cor
responding circumstances. Future states are as much hid from our
sight as future events. And even now, AA'hen we can talk of the states
which were shadoAved in those past events recorded in the gospel, we
know nothing of theh true nature till they exist in our experience.
Not all the disciples, but only some of them, talked among themselves
about theh Lord's mysterious saying. Yet none of them had any
apprehension of the events that were fast approaching ; and Avheu told
plamly of them they refused to believe. Taking the disciples col
lectively, there wUl always be found among them some to Avhom the
Lord's death and resurrection wiU be a mystery, hopelessly incompre-
sible as a practical truth. .And to all it is an enigma till experience
unfolds it. If we consider the disciples as representing the thoughts
and aff'ections of the regenerating mind, some of them will, in a pre
paratory stage, see nothing but darkness on this subject. And even
if we consider them as representing the truths of the Word, the same
obscurity may be observed. F"'or all those truths that originaUy led
the disciples to believe in the continued presence Avith them of the
Messiah, who should lead them to a temporal kingdom, and set them
upon thrones of judgment, can show nothing of Ught on this subject,
tiU they are themselves enlightened, by the true Light shming witMn.
19. But while, in the earlier stages of the regenerate life, there is
2 B

386 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVL
unpenetrable obscurity on the subject of the Lord's death and resur
rection, there is in the minds of every true disciple a desire to receive
Ulumination from the Lord himself, as the Truth. Now Jesus knew
they were desirous to usk him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire
a-mong yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not
see me : and again a little while und ye shall see me ? This is
another instance of the Lord's knoAving the deshes of his dis
ciples before they expressed them. " He needed not that any one
should testify of men ; for he kncAV what Avas in man." So is it
still. The Lord utters dark sayings, that he may excite in the mmd
the desire of coming to the light. And there is m the obscure truth
itself a desire and a capacity for Ulumination. The raind is thus pre
pared for the reception of the light, not only mto the miderstandmg
but into the heart, there to jiroduce a hving faith.
20. Having told his disciples of his approaching departure and return,
he now proceeds to disclose to them the feelings that these events
would excite in their hearts. Verily, verily, I say unto you. That yt
shcdl weep and lament, hut the world shull rejoice; und ye shull be
sfjrro'wful, but your sorrow shcdl be turned into joy. The Lord's death
aud resurrection were to revolutionize all their ideas and feelmgs ; to
change their natural into spiritual faith and love, and theh earthly
into a heaveMy kingdom. They Avere, therefore, approacMng the crisis
of their life. But this is an experience common to all who foUoAv the
Lord : and to kiioAv the states and their results, we must consider
them in relation to ourselves. The opp)osite elements of the Church
and of the world are Avitliin us, and our trials arise from theh commg
into conflict with each other. It is the world Avithin us that crucifies
the Saviour, and for a time hides hira frora our spiritual perceptions.
Then do the disciples Aveep and lament. AA'hen the aff'ections are
deprived of their object, they cannot but suffer ; and no anguish is so
great as that of bereaved affection. AA'eeping, unlike shedding tears,
is expressive of sorroAv at once of heart and understanding ; AvhUe
lamentation is the same outward manifestation of both. But that
Avhich makes the disciples weep and lament, causes the AA'orld to rejoice.
Feeling as if freed from the poAver of a hitherto conquering enemy, it
lifts up its brow on high, and boasts of its pOAA'er. This is, howeA'er,
but a temporary triumph, like that of the Egyptians Avhen they pursued
the emancipated Israelites, and folloAved them through the channel of
the Red Sea. It is also the last triumph of the prmciples of the
carnal miud ; for of them it may also be said, " The Egyptians whom
ye have seen to-day ye shall see no more for ever." The resurrection

Chap. XVL] ST. JOHN. 387
of the Saviour, as the object of love and faith in the soul, removes
from it for ever the world as a ruling principle. The state of life
becomes inverted : the love of heaven obtains the ascendency over the
love of the world. And as the state is inverted, so is the experience.
The mind has felt the depths of sorroAv, but noAv its sorrow is turned
mto joy.
21. The nature of this sorroAv anil joy our Lord proceeds to explain.
A womun when she is in truvuil hcdh sorrow, because her hour is come :
hut as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more
the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. The Ulustra
tion of the subject which our Lord here gives is a striking instance of
the very important fact, that he expressed himself, not in the language
of figure merely, but in that of correspondence. Regeneration is truly
a new birth ; and there is an exact correspondence between the natural
and the sphitual. The ucav bhth consists in bringing into actual
existence m the lUe the vital principle Avhich has been begotten in the
heart. Now it is in brmgmg our inward convictions and principles
into act that . the great labour of life consists, and that its severest
trials are experienced. AVe aU know how difficult it is to be m deed
what we are m intention. TMs has been the testimony m aU ages
of the highest examples of Christian earnestness and fidelity. Hoav
does the Apostle PaM lament over his natural waywardness and m-
abUity to do good — to realize in Ms life what he loved and believed
m Ms heart. He delighted in the law of God after the inward
man, but he felt a laAv in his merabers warrmg against the \aw
of God in Ms mind ; when he desired to do good evil Avas present-
with him ; and so oppressive did he feel the contrariety between the
deshes of his sphit and the lusts of the flesh, that he passionately
exclaims, " Who shaU deliver me from the body of this death ?" It is
because, though the Spirit is wUling, the flesh is weak, that the new
birth is attended with such difficulty and anguish. The natural mind
is the seat of our hereditary CAils, and therefore naturally opposes the
descent into it of the principles of sphitual love and truth that have
been begotten in the spiritual mind. The pams of a woman in travaU
are spoken of in Scripture for the purpose of presenting this subject ,
before us in its true and practical light. "A woman when in travail
hath sorrow because her hour is come.'' This is used to iUustrate the
sorrow of his (Usciples at the tmie of Ms departure from them. But ,
the Lord departed from them 'bj death that he might be "the first
born from the dead." The death of the old man is necessary to the
bhth of the new. The resistance of the natural man to the birth of

388 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVI.
the spiritual is the cause of the sorrow experienced in the new man
coming to the birth. But Avhen the birth has been accomplished,
then indeed is the greatest sorrow turned into the greatest joy. " As
soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the
anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." The bitterness
of childbirth is suddenly and richly rewarded by the sweetness of the
feeling of maternity ; so is the anguish of spiritual travail certamly and
abundantly recompenced by the new joy which the new life inspires.
Maternal love is inspired by the love of God, and its delights are
exquisite because derived from Him Avho, because he is love, is also
blessedness. As spiritual births are the bringing into existence of
new states of goodness and truth, they take place in heaven itself,
and are experienced in an endless succession of new and higher
states of felicity. They are more perfect and more felicitous, because
they are higher states of humanity, for men and even angels are more
liuman the more they grow in the image and likeness of God. In a
general sense, "the woman'' is the church, not the church Avithout but
within us, and the "man" whose bhth is the cause of joy is the ncAv or
regenerated man, the true human prmciple, brought mto actual existence
in the words and actions of a holy life.
22. Applying this instructive similitude to the apostles in their
present or approacMng circumstances, .lesus says. And ye now therefore
have sorrow ; hut I will see you ucjuin, und your heurt shall rejoice,
and yuiir joy no man taketh from you. The Lord had said to Ms dis
ciples that they should see Mm ; he noAv teUs them that he would see
them. This implies reciprocal knowledge and conjunction. Our
seeing him and his seeing us are the counterparts of each other, and
the completeness of perception. AA"e see the Lord when our thoughts
are directed upwards to him, and he sees us when his truth descends
to us, and gives us to see him in ourselves. Thus is it that our hearts
.rejoice, for joy in the heart arises from the reception of the Lord's
-truth in the will and its affections, so that we not oMj' see the trutii
..tout feel it and dehght in it. And as the Lord inspires this joy, no
one can take it from us. The poAver of evU and error is broken, and
the poAver of love and truth is established ; and the joy which these
holy principles inspire is beyond the power of the world to take away.
23. Now we hear the blessed consequences of this uoav state aud
its joy. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I
sa.y unto you. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will
give it you. And what does this rather singular declaration express?
Does it mean that the disciples were to ask Mm nothing, but were to

Chap. XVL] ST. JOHN. 389
address their prayers and requests to the Father? The disciples did
not so understand it. The first prayer of theirs which is recorded as
havmg been used after his ascension, was addressed immediately to
.him (Acts i. 24), And the second that is mentioned was dhected to
him by the first martyr (vii. 59). It is now commoMy understood
to mean that CMistians are not to address Jesus personaUy for what
they need, but are to ask the Father to grant theh petitions for Christ's
sake. There is no intimation of this in the New Testament, except in
one instance, where the translators express an idea which the original
does not contain. Paul is made to exhort the Ephesians to forgive
one another, even as God for Christ's sake had forgiven them (iv. 32);
but this, rendered literaUy, is " as God m Christ hath forgiven you."
The opiMon that God pardons sinners because Christ has purchased
pardon for them, is not taught in this or in any part of Scripture.
The true meaning of the Lord's words is entirely different, and consis
tent with the nature of God and the nature of man. The Father and
Son, we need hardly say, are not two persons, but two essentials of the
Deity, the Father the divine love, the Son the divine wisdom.
When the Lord says "at that day ye shall ask me nothing," he mti-
raates that, in the higher and holier state which his disciples attain,
when he is risen in their hearts, and they live and act under the
mfluence of his love, they ask notMng of the Son but of the Father ;
they ask notMng of the divine Avisdom, but of the divine love. Love
asks of love ; but it asks in the name of wisdom. Wisdom enlightens
love, for love is only true love when it is directed by wisdom. Love
only loves rightly when it loves wisely. To ask the Father is to
desire to receive from the Lord the gUt of love, and to ask in the
name of the Son is to express this desire m accordance with the
dictates of wisdom. Whatever we ask the Father in the name
of the Son he wiU give it. So far as our prayers are influenced by
love and guided by wisdom they are in accordance with the wUl
and -wisdom of God, and therefore are sure to receive an ansAver of
peace. We receive not because Ave ask amiss. We ask amiss when
Ave ask unwisely. When we ask wisely, whatsoever Ave ask, the Father
AviU give us. "This is the perfection of prayer, and we shoMd strive
after it. It is a state which we may continually approach, though we
can never absolutely reach.
24, The disciples had not attained to this state wMch the Lord now
described; they had not even entered it. Hitherto ye have asked
nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
They had no doubt asked of God, but not in the name of Jesus, They

390 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XVL
had not as yet worshipped God in Christ, the Divine in the Human,
•eternal Love as manifested in eternal AVisdom. Their love was as yet
undirected and unqualified by Avisdom. They knew no other than
that the kingdom, for the coming of Avhich they had been taught to
pray, Avas an earthly kingdom. Hitherto they had asked nothing in
1:he name or spirit of him Avliose kingdom Avas heavenly. This they
were soon to be led to do. And it changed the Avhole current of their
-thoughts and of their life. As they had hitherto asked nothing inthe
name of Jesus, the Lord counseUed them to ask, assuring them that
they should receive, that their joy might be fuU. The assurance, Avhich
is everyAvhere given in the Word, of the certain success of true and
fervent prayer, is most encouraging, but at the same time searching.
True prayer, being inspired by the Lord, must express his wiU and
wisdom ; it is only so far true as it does so. Every true prayer is an
asking in the name of Jesus. His name, his mind, his Sphit is iu it.
When his mind is our mind, and Ave speak his mind in expressmg our
OAVii, Ave truly pray, we ask the Father in the Lord's name. So far as
we pray from ourselves, not from the Lord, we pray m our own name,
not in his ; and so far we must ask amiss, and our prayers are unheard.
Every human prayer, it is true, has in it something of sinful imperfec
tion, and is so far opposed to the Lord's wiU; but our prayers in
respect to every such element should be, not my wiU but thine be done.
25. It is possible that Avhat the Lord had thus far addressed to his
disciples, they had but imperfectly understood. And not those whom
he immediately addressed only ; all others in their stage of discipleship
are in corresponding obscurity. To all disciples are the Lord's words
true : These things have I spoken unto you -in proverbs: but the time
coineth, when I shall no more specie unto you in proverbs, hut I shcdl
shew you plainly of the Father. A parable is a familiar image used to
express aii unfamiliar truth. To the disciples the Lord himseU was a
parable. They saw him as man, but they did not yet clearly know
him as God. They did not yet understand the truth, that he who saAv
Mm saAV the Father. They did not yet know that the Father dAvelt
bodily in him, and did the works and spake the wordsthat proceeded
from him. He had told them this, when one of them asked him to
show them the Father. They could not know this great truth m its
clearness and integrity, for the Lord was not yet glorified, neither in
himseU or in them. But the time was at hand when he should not
only teach them, but show them, plainly of the Father. The Father
could only be seen in the Son ; for no one can know the Father but
the Son, and he to Avhomsoever the Son wUl reveal hhn. But the

Chap. XVL] ST, JOHN, 391
Father could not be seen pilainly in the Son till the Son had become
one with the Father, in essence as well as in person. The divinity
could not be perfectly seen in the humanity till the humanity had be
come divine. Then the Lord no more spake to his disciples in parables.
The fraU humanity, that concealed the glories of Ms divinity, was put
off by death, as a seed that falls into the ground and dies, but out of
it sprang forth, at his resurrection, a new and glorious humanity, the
express image of his indwelling diviMty, in AvMch the Lord showed
his disciples plainly of the Father. This change in himself prodused
a corresponding change in Ms disciples. The seeds of truth which he
had soAvn in their nUnds, and Avhich had fallen into the good ground
of honest hearts, now died, and the germ of spiritual truth, which those
seeds contained, sprang forth, and grcAV iuto a living faith, of which tl.e
Lord in his Divine Humanity was the true Object.
26, 27. Speaking of this time and state, the Lord says. At thcd day ye
shall ask in my -name : and I .say not unto you, that I will pray the
Fcdher for you . for the Father Mmself loveth you, becuuse ye have loved
me, und huve believed that I ccjime out from God. The Lord speaks
of the certainty of the disciples asking in his name. We need only
direct our attention to the declaration that follows. It is an opinion,
drawn from a too literal and natural vicAV of some other statements in
the Scriptures, that Jesus pleads with the Father for those who believe
in him. Here he says that Ms praying the Father for Ms disciples was
unnecessary ; and for the very satisfactory reason, that the Father him
self loved them. If the Father is Love itself, he needs no persuasive
prayers addressed to him by an advocate, the equal of himself, who
pleads his oAvn merits for the gifts he craves. The Father loves the
disciples because they love the Son, and believe that he came out from
God. Setting aside the idea of the distinct personality of the Father
and tbe Son, as a human idea of a divine Being, and regarding the
Father and the Son as the divine love and the divine wisdom in the
one mdivisible and infiMte God, we learn from the Lord's words, that
the way to acquire the Lord's love is to love his wisdom, and to have
faith m it as the emanation of his love. To love the Lord's wisdom is
to love to be and to do what it teaches we should be and do. Tmth
leads to good, wisdom to love. Truth also desires good, wisdom desires
love. And as deshe is the essence of prayer, and prayer is the expres
sion of desire, so the prayer of truth is to good, the prayer of Avisdom
is to love. The desire and prayer of truth and wisdom are for conjunc
tion Avith goodness and love ; but Avhen that conjunction is effected,
the desire and prayer for it cease. Therefore, our Lord said to his

392 ST, JOHN, [Chap, XVI.
disciples, while in their preparatory state, " I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter ; " but Avhen describing their per
fected state, he says, " I say not that I will pray the Father for you,
for the Father himself loveth you.'' AVhen that is attained wMcli is
the object of prayer, there is no more need for praying. We are not,
therefore, to think ofthe Lord a&Uterally praying to another person called
the Father, but we are to think, if Ave desire to think rightly, that the
prayers of the Son to the Father are no other than the desires which
Avisdom has for union Avith love, and which cease Avhen that union is
effected. The Lord prayed to the Father in the days of his humUia
tion, for then he Avas in an infirm humanity; but now that his
Humanity is glorified, and united for ever with his Divinity, he can no
longer pray. He can only pray in us ; his truth in us prays for union
Avith his goodness, his wisdom for union Avith his love ; but Avhen that
union is effected, the prayer for its accomplishment ceases. Then is
realized the truth expressed in the Lord's Avords, " I say not that I avUI
pray the Father for you ; for the Father himself loveth you, because
ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God."
28. The Lord draws the attention of his disciples to the truth ex
pressed in the last words which he had spoken. I cume forth from
the Fcdher, and am come into the world : again, I leave the world, and
go to the Fcdher. The repetition of this truth by the Lord, can oMy
be accounted for on the ground of its importance as a matter of belief
He came forth from the Father. How did he come forth ? Not as
one person departs from the piresence of another to go on a distant
journey. Such an idea is not to be for a moment entertained in re
lation to an infinite and omnipotent Being. The Lord came hito the
world by manifesting himself as the A'i^ord raade flesh. The AVord of
God is the AVisdom of God. Aud Avisdom proceeds from love, as light
frora heat ; and Jesus, as the Word, is the Light of Love, the true
light that lighteth every man that cometh into the Avorld. Jesus, as
the Word, came forth frora the Father, as divine AAisdom from diAine
love, and came into the world by assuming the nature of man. But
the object of the Son in coming into the world, Avas to effect the work
of redemption, and then return to the Father again. As the Lord came
into the Avorld by taking upon him a natural humanity, he returned to
the F''ather by putting on a divine humanity. Before the incarnation,
the Lord, when he appeared among men, assumed an angelic nature,
and laid it aside when he left off communing Avith them. But when
he assumed man's nature by birth, he assumed it never to lay it aside,
yet to divest it of aU its imperfection, and make it divmely perfect ;

Chap. XVL] ST. JOHN. 393
born of God, therefore purely the Son of God. It was only what came
from God that returned to God, according to the Lord's own Avords,
" I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world : again, I
leave the world, and go unto the Father." By glorification the Lord put
off aU that he had derived from the mother, therefore all that was
earthly and fiMte, and put on a humanity from the Father, therefore one
purely divine.
29, 30. When the Lord had thus amplified this brief declaration
respectmg his absence and return, which had seemed to the disciples
so mysterious and uninteUigible, they said unto him, Lo, now speakest
thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are -we sure that thou
knowest all things, and needest not that any man should aslcthee: by
this we know that thou camest forth from God. How obscure a per
ception the disciples had of ¦ the manner in Avhich these words were to
be verified, their subsequent history abundantly testifies. His langua"-e
however was plain, and it carried to the minds of his earnest hearers a
couAiction of his unbounded knowledge, itself an evidence to them of
his divine origin. In the spiritual life there are progressive degrees
of knoAvledge, which are attained by successive degrees ol mental
development, with corresponding openings of the truths of revelation.
The Lord reveals his truth to his children as they are able to bear it,
and he reveals it to them by additions and by elevations ; additions en
large theh stores, and elevations give them Mgher views of whatever they
possess. We see this dual process of advancement in the history of
the first disciples. Gradually Avas the truth revealed to them, slowly
was its meaning and import unfolded to them ; nor was it till after the
Lord was risen that, breathing on Ms disciples, he opened their under
standings to understand the Scriptures. Every Christian disciple
knoAvs by experience that, through enlargement and opening of the
mind, things Avhich once appeared enigmatical are seen plainly.
Truth, Avhich iu a lower state seems to be human, in a higher state is
seen to be divine. It brings to the raind the evidence of its own
divinity; and that evidence comes from the conviction that divine
truth is not only a revealer of things beyond the reach of unassisted
reason, but is a disoerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And
so full is the instruction, so entire the satisfaction, that there is no
room for doubt ; there needeth not that any man should ask Him,
By this we indeed knoAv that Jesus as the Eternal Word came
forth frora the bosom of Eternal Love, and that he has the words of
eternal lUe.
31, Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe ? This is not to be

394 ,ST, JOHN. [Chat. XVL
regarded as a question but an admission, — an affirmation of the
disciples' belief They now believed in Jesus more inteUigently and
firmly than before. Their faith rested upon a broader and more solid
foundation, and was, therefore, able to bear the trials to which it was
soon to be subjected.
32. The trial of their faith the Lord uoav reveals to them. Behold
the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every
man to his own: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with
me. This language respecting the disciples is very expressive and
significant. They were to be scattered like a flock attacked and pur
sued by wolves, each concerned for his oavu safety. The shepherd
Avas to be smitten, aud the sheep were to be scattered. The disciples
were to seek refuge from the storm among those Avhom they had
left to folloAV Jesus. As representing the affections and thoughts
that have turned from self and the world to the Lord, this scat
tering of them to their oavu is most expressive. In extreme states
of trial and temptation the thoughts and affections are severed
from each other, and draAvn again, if not m act, at least m deshe,
into connection Avith those from among whom they had come out;
as the children of Israel, in theh severe temptation, desired to
return to Egypt, from Avhich they had been delivered. In states of
severe temptation, love and faith seem to be severed from each other,
and from the Lord as their Author and Object. The affections
and thoughts that have been elevated and have become receptive
of faith in Jesus are, in states of temptation, cast down. Not yet
so confirmed in faith as to be able to maintain their eleA'ation,
they fall away Avhen severe iuAvard trial comes. Their connection
with each other and with the Lord is broken, and they become
immersed for the time in the lusts and darkness of the natural mind.
Forsaken by the thoughts and affections that had, with so much ear
nestness and deA.rotion, clung to him as their beloved object, Jesus is
left alone, so far at least as they are concerned. But even then he is
not alone, because the Father is Avith him. It is an important and
consolotary truth, that in states of severe trial aud temptation, the
Lord is more intimately present Avith the disciple than hi the ordmary
conditions of his religious Ufe. Not that the divine love and care are
greater at one time than at another. The state of mind produced by
temptation brings the soul into a nearer connection with the Lord. All
temptation is attended Avith the fear of the loss of eternal life ; and
from this arises the anguish which Avrings the heart in those dark
and troubled seasons. The love of that life of which one dreads the

Chap. XVL] ^ ST, JQH^- 395
loss is then more intense than at other times ; and as tbe Lord dwells
in that love, he is nearer to us the more intense it is, therefore nearer
to us the severer the trial But his presence is in the interior of the
mind ; and he is not there alone, as the truth, but his love is there to
gether with his truth ; for one of the uses of temptation is to bring the
Lord's love and truth into closer connection and union in the spiritual
mind, that, when the temptation is past, they may become more fully
united in the natural mind also, Avhere the conflict has been experienced,
33. Another blessed result of temptation, as a trial of faith and in
tegrity, is that it brmgs the mind iuto a state of peace in Jesus. There
fore, our Lord says to his disciples. These things huve I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribu
lation : but be of good cheer : I luvve overcome the world. Spiritual
peace is tbe fruit of conquered passions, and of the doubts aud fears
AvMch they insjiire. There is a peace that is experienced by those who
IvnoAv nothmg of spiritual conflict Avithin themselves, but this is thepeace
of seU-satisfaction. It is only those avIio have warred Avith evil in them
selves that can have peace in Jesus, that peace Avhicli passes all under
standing, which the world cannot give, and which it cannot take aAvay.
So far removed is this peace from any that the Avoiid can bestoAV, that
it is iieA-er fuUy experienced till the Avorld has passed aAvay. Life in
this world is never so far perfected as to secure to the mind a state of
undisturbed traiiquiUity. " In this world ye shall have tribMation " is
the assurance of mfinite Avisdom. The Avorld does not, indeed, mean
the outer world only in which Ave live, but the inner world Avliich lives
in us, the worldly element that enters more or less into our thoughts
and affections, and disturbs the calm that the Lord and heaven are
ever operating to produce and preserve. But the tribulation that the
disciple experiences m the world is not a just ground of sadness or de
spondency. On the contrary, there is in Christian tribulation a solid
ground of cheerfulness and hope, because Christ himself has endured
tribulation, and has overcome the Avorld, and for this reasou exhorts
his disciples to be of good cheer. In the Lord's conquest lies our hope
of being able to overcome. It was to overcome the world that he came
into the world. He assumed the nature that Ave inherit. He passed
through all the trials incident to humanity. He overcame in all these
trials. He did all this for our sakes, that we also might overcome.
He was tempted that he might succour us in our temptations (Hob. ii.
18). Hoav grand and cheering are these divine Avords, " In the world
ye shall have tribMation : but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
Avorld."

396 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIL

CHAPTER XA^I.
Having finished his discourse to his disciples, which may be said to
have closed the work of his ministry on earth, the Lord now lifts up
his eyes to heaven, and addresses himself to the Father, into whose
hands he was soon to commit his spirit. The prayer is in the highest
degree sublime and impressive, and deserves our humble and reverential
consideration. Several instances are recorded of Jesus praying, on one
occasion, of his retiring into a mountain, and continuing aU night in
prayer to God. But excepting the fcAV words of thanksgiving he
uttered on the return of the disciples and at the grave of Lazarus, his
short agonizing prayer in Gethsemane, aud his despairing cry upon the
cross, the gospels contain no record of the subjects or the language of
the devotional addresses of Jesus to the Father. That which John
has preserved is the only prayer of any considerable length, uttered by
the Lord, which He, the Author of inspiration, has seen good to re
veal. Worthy is that prayer of the Being who uttered it and of the
Book which contains it. It breathes the very spirit of redeenUng
love ; it is the pattern, as it is the expression, of pure love to God and
love to man. Suitable is it as the prayer of Him who was the Mediator
betAveen God and man. It contains no trace of a petition, or claim,
for the forgiA'cness of sinners on account of the obedience or sufferings
of the Saviour, as a vicarious sacrifice for sin. The burden of it is, the
Father's love for the human race, as the moving cause of the Incarna
tion, the F'ather's love in the Son as the efficient cause of redemption,
and the Son's communication of that love to men, as the operating cause
of regeneration, AA'hich, as it creates thera anew into the image of their
Saviour, makes them at one Avith God, and restores them to union with
Him, in Avliom alone is true happiness.
The circumstance itself of Jesus praying is deeply interestmg, though,
in some respects, it may seem mysterious. We, Avho are frail and sin
fM creatures, need to send our supplications for aid to the Author of
our being and our mercies. But that Jesus, avIio Avas God as well as
man, and Avas holy, undefiled, separate from sinners, should have felt
the need of Divine support, and should have poured out his soul to
God, may seem inexplicable. It is supposed, indeed, by some that the
Lord's work in the flesh AA'as vicarious, and that, standing in the place
of sinners, his prayers, like his obedience and death, AA'ere theirs in
him. True, " Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, and

Chap. XVIL] ST. JOHN. 397
took upon hiraself the form of a servant, and humbled himseU, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. ii. 6).
But how ? As a divine Bemg, he could not divest himself of his
divmity, nor of the consciousness that he was divine. And to act as if
he were a servant aa'ouM have made his prayers, as Avell as his obedience
and sufferings, unreaL Divinity cannot suffer and cannot pray. There
Avas but one way m which the Lord could corne into a dependent
state, so that he could be really humble and obedient, suffering and
prayerfM, and that was by assummg our nature, Avith its human con
sciousness and its human thoughts and feelings. The prayers of Jesus,
to have been real prayers, must in their nature have been the same as
ours, hoAvever much they may have transcended them in depth and
purity and trustfMness. True also it is, that, although the Lord's
prayers were m theh nature human, they Avere hi their origin Divme.
But in this they oMy resembled aU other human prayers. It is a doc
trine of the Scriptures, that God is the Author as AveU as the Object
of prayer. Every holy desire and thought that Ave express in prayer
is insphed by Him to Avliom it is adtfressed. No prayer can ascend
to heaven but that which has come down from heaven. But m order
that the prayers of Jesus might have the character of humau prayers,
the divme thought must in its descent have been changed into, or
rather must have clothed itself with, human thought, as it of necessity
did, when it came down into the finite faculties of the maternal hu
maMty, which the Lord had assumed. It may be diflficMt to conceive
how Jesus could adchess, as a separate Being, the Divinity that dwelt
within him. The diflficMty is not, hoAvever, a serious one. BetAveen
the Divine and the human consciousness there is an infinite difference,
and there is consequently a seemingly infinite distance between those
to whom they respectively belong. To the Lord's humau conscious
ness the Divinity would seem to be separate and remote. In this re
spect he was like ourselves. Although no one is nearer to us than
God, no one seems to be farther from us. It is state, not space, that
gives the sense of separateness. BetAveen infinite and finite there is
no proportion. W^hen Jesus was m states of humiliation, as in temp
tation and suffermg, it seemed to Mm as U the Father were a Being
separate and remote from Mmself, for he Avas then iu the maternal
humaMty, Avith its fiMte consciousness ; but when he Avas in states
of glorMcation, he had not the same sense of finite individuality,
for he Avas then m the paternal humanity, and spoke of the Father
and hiraseU as one. And perfectly one they now are ; and being
one, the humaMty is incapable of any sense of separation ; the Lord

398 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIL
is incapable, therefore, of offering intercessory prayer, as he did upon
earth. The first and pervading petition of this prayer is, that the Son may
be glorified, and the Father glorified in him ; and that m theh glorifi
cation men may have salvation. AVhen the Lord's glorification was
completed, and his humanity had become divine, Jesus could no longer
pray after the manner of men. StiU, the same love for the human
race, and the same desire for their salvation, which the Lord expressed
in this prayer, are infinitely active in Hira, and are constantly ope
rating through his Holy Spirit, to reconcUe sinners to himseU, and
draAV them into an intimate and everlasting union Avith Hhn, as their
God and Saviour. As deshe is the essence of prayer, the Lord's de
sire for man's salvation, though it can no longer be uttered, is stM de
scribed as if expressed, in the language and manner of prayer. For
the same reason the Holy Sphit, whom the Lord sends, is represented
as making intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered
(Rom. viii. 26). This supjplies us Avith a satisfactory reason for the
use of tMs language in reference to the Lord himself, as he uoav is.
The intercession of the Spirit, although for us, is reaUy m us, as the
inspher of prayer. He " helpeth our mfirmities ; for we knoAv not
what we should pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit itseU maketh in
tercession for us " (Rom. viii. 26). Although the Lord Mmself does
not and cannot pray, he stUl prays in us. That (Uvine influence, AvMch
descended into his own frail humanity, and ascended from Ms human
heart and lips in real and earnest prayer, stUl comes doAvn from his
no-.v glorified HumaMty into our frail humanity, that it may ascend
frora our hearts and lips to Him, as his ascended to the Father. AA''hen
this takes place, the final purpose of this divine prayer is accorapUshed :
" that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I
in them."
1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
said. Father, the hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that thy Son cdso
may glorify thee. The heaven of the senses corresponds to the heaven
of the soul ; and one naturally and properly tmns the eyes of his body
to the one Avhen the eyes of his mmd are turned to the other. To lift
up the ej'es to heaven is, spiritually, to elevate the thoughts to the
tMone of God and to him that sitteth thereon, and thus to aU that is
heavenly and divine. The Lord's lifting up his eyes to heaven Avas,
therefore, the outAvard sign of an inward elevation, Avliich gave the hu
manity a more mterior perception of the indweUing diviMty. Or, it
represented the elevation of divme truth m the Lord's external man

Chap. XVIL] ST, JOHN, 399
towards divme good in his internal man ; the internal man being meant
by heaven where the F'ather dwells, and the external by the earth where
the Son then was. For the Lord's glorification consisted in the union
of good and truth in his humanity, and thence in the union of the
Divine and the Human in his person. The F'ather, to whom the Son
looked, and to union with AA'hom he aspired, Avas the divine Good, or
the divine Love, in his internal man. Whether we speak of the union
of good and truth in the Lord's humanity, or the union iu Mm of the
DiAine and the Human, it amounts to the same, for one implies the
other. The glorification of the Father and Son, by and in each other,
has already been spoken of in chap. xiii. 31, where the Lord delivers
to Ms disciples words similar to those which he now addresses to the
Father, We need only firrther remark, that the Father's glorification
of the Son was necessary to the Son's glorification of the Father.
" Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorUy thee." This is ac
cording to a laAV of order. Good operates, truth co-operates ; good
acts, truth re-acts. Good elevates truth mto union with itself, truth
suffers itself to be elcA'ated and united. Thus the union betAveen them
is reciprocal. The union of the Divine with the human and of the
human with the Divme is the divine marriage of Good with Truth and
of Truth with Good m the Lord, from which comes the heaveMy
marriage, or conjunction of goodness and truth in man. The union of
the Divine and the human in the Lord was thus mutual or reciprocal.
2. Having prayed for the union of his humaMty Avith his divmity,
the Lord now prays for that Avhich was its end and purpose. As thou
hast given him power over all fiesh, thut he should give eterncd life to
as -many as thou hast given him. The immediate effect of the Lord's
glorification was to give hira poAver over all flesh. This is a great and
momentous truth. The Lord came in the flesh that he might have
poAver over the flesh. He assumed human nature that he might acquhe
savmg power over human nature. By the prevalence of evil, the
diAine poAver, ever m itself the same, was diminished in relation to
man. " AU flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth" (Gen. vi. 12),
and no means of restoration remamed but by the Lord taking that flesh
upon hhnseU, and thus bringing himself relatively nearer to mau. It
was not, however, by the assumption, but by the glorification of the
flesh that the Lord acquired power over all flesh. Hence the language
of his prayer to the Father, " as thou hast given him power over aU
flesh." His power over aU flesh the Lord acquired by the glorification
of Ms humanity, and this was effected by the Father, A divine
humaMty has power over aU flesh, to make finite humaMty in aU who

400 ST JOHN. [Chap. XVIL
are wiUmg to be regenerated, the likeness of humanity in the Lord.
This is the great mystery of the Incarnation, that God has acquired a
saAiiig presence Avith men, and a power over thera in and by Ms glori
fied humanity, a power which the Divine has given the human by
making the human divine. By virtue of this power over all fiesh the
Lord can give eternal life to as many (literaUy to all) whom the Father
had given him. Need we say that this has no such meaning as that
the Father has chosen a certain number of the human race, whom he
has given to his Son as his oavu, to redeem and save ? The strictly
literal meaning is opposed to this. The immediate and limited number
whom the Father had given the Son were the twelve apostles, or
rather, the eleven who remained faitMul to theh Lord and Saviour.
Yet these were but the first fruits of the gospel, the seed from wMch
was to be produced an abundant and ever-increasing harvest. " Ofthe
increase of his government and peace theh shaU be no end." " AU
people, nations, and languages shall serve him ; his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. vii. 14). The universality
of the Lord's dominion may not be considered inconsistent with a Umit
in the choice of individuals. But the words of the Lord are themselves
inconsistent with such a divinely appointed limitation, for Avhy shoMd
the Father have given the Son poAver over all flesh, and yet limited
the scope of his saving operations ? We have had occasion several
times to speak of the limit to salvation seemingly expressed in language
similar to this, and have seen that those whom the F'ather gives to the
Son are aU who suffer themselves to be draAvn by the influence of
his love to the reception and regenerating poAver of Ms Avisdom.
3. And now the Lord declares what this promised eternal lUe is.
And this is life eterncd, that they nviglit know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ 'whom thou hast sent. The function ofthe Son, as it
is here implicitly taught, is, to give men the knowledge of the Father,
as the only true God, and of Mmself, as him Avhoni the true God had
sent, iu Avhich knoAvledge there is eternal life. The Lord calls the
Father the only true God, and speaks of himself as the Saviour, the
Anointed whom he had sent into the Avoiid. VicAved dogmaticaUy,
Jesus may be supposed to teach, not only that the Father and the
Son are two distinct persons, but that the Father is the only true God,
exclusive of himself as the Sou. There is one particular iu the lan
guage itself that must strike us as inconsistent Avith this. Eternal life
is said to consist in knoAving the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom he had sent. TMs makes the knoAvledge of the Son of equal

Chap. XVIL] ST. JOHN. 401
importance, and equally necessary to life eternal, with that of the
Father. The only true God, and Jesus Christ Avhom he had sent, are
the Lord's Divinity and his Humanity, and his divine Love and Wisdom,
which in themselves are perfectly distinct, though perfectly equal and
united. The great truth contained in the Lord's divine Avords is this,
that a knoAvledge of the Father and the Son constitutes life eternal.
Some profess to know and believe in the Father, and conssider this
sufficient for salvation. And some Avho profess to know and believe
iu the Son, beheve him to be inferior to the Father, for they believe
his humanity, which is the Son, to be like the hnmanity of another
man, thus infinitely inferior to the divinity Avhom they call the Father.
But the linowledge of his eternalDivinity and of his Divine Humanity
together constitutes eternal life. The Lord's divinity is the only true
God, and his humanity is the only true man; "for there is one God,
and one Mediator betAveen God and man, the man Christ Jesus "
(1 Tim. ii. 5). But in the Lord, God and man are one, like soul aud
body. And not only so, but in him God is man and man is God.
The knoAvledge of the true God, without the knowledge of .Jesus Chiist,
is not the Christian but the Jewish knoAvledge of God, a knowledge
which belongs to a bygone and preparatory dispensation. Under the
Christian dispensation the knowledge of God, as manUested in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that Avhich contains and gives
eternal lUe, that lUe which was with the Father, and was manifested
unto us. And trMy we have feUowship with the Father, and Avith
his son Jesus Christ (1 John i. 3). It is the privilege of the Chris
tian to knoAv and have fellowship with the Father in the Son, which
is to know and have commuMon and conjunction with God in CMist
or Jehovah in Ms DiAine Humanity.
4. StUl addressing the Father, the Lord now says, I have glorified
thee cm the ecaih; I have finished the work which thou gavestmeto do.
The Lord speaks of having glorified the Father upon earth, and finished
his work.\ The glorification of the Lord was not only a gradual but a
successive work ; it was effected, not only by continuous but by dis
crete or distmct degrees. TMs is expressed in the text itself, which,
according to some, should be rendered indefinitely, " I glorified, I
fiMshed," which may be understood to relate to a particMar act, or, as
Ave have said, to a particular stage, of glorification. The Lord nught
therefore speak of having finished the Father's work, although there
Avas yet one other important part of that work to be accomphshed.
He says to the Father, " I have glorified thee on the earth." Jesus
had no doubt glorified the Father on the earth in the many lessons of
2 c

402 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XYIL
divine wisdom he had taught, and the many divine works of mercy he
had performed. But considering the work of glorification as one that
was effected in Ms own person, the earth is expressive of the earthly
or natural part of his humanity ; and the Father was glorified ou the
earth, when the Lord had so far made the external of Ms humanity
divine, that the divinity and the humanity Avere, even then, essentiaUy
one. They had yet to become fully and eternally one by that act of
glorification for which tbe Lord next prays.
5. And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. These words are
very striking, and are most important. To understand them we must
consider the . origin and object of this pirayer. In the introductory
remarks to this chapter Ave have said that desire is the essence of prayer.
The present petition leads us to the further and deeper mquiry. What
is the essence of desire ? Holy desire is the affinity Avhich truth has
for goodness and which goodness has for truth. It may not be
obvious that this is the case, but it is so. All things in the universe,
which are in the order of their creation, have relation to goodness and
truth. All perfection arises from their union ; all imperfection from
theh disunion. And as in human beings perfection of state produces
happiness, and imperfection produces unhappiness, therefore the degrees
of happiness and unhappiness are according to the degrees of the union
and the disunion of goodness and truth, which are the principles of aU
things. It is the sense of imperfection, and of the unhappmess arismg
from it, that gives us the desire which we express in prayer. With
the wicked, however, there is not only the disunion of goodness and
truth, but the union of evil and falsity; but of them it must be said,
that this union produces not only unhappiness, but misery. They too
have their desires, and these have their origin in the principles that
constitute their life. As holy desire is the affinity which exists
betAveen goodness and tmth, unholy desire is the affinity Avhich exists
betAveen CA'il and falsity. Good desires trutii and truth des&es good;
so evil desires falsity and falsity desires evil. There are in fact no
human desires Avhich are not either of the one or the other. In speak
ing, in relation to the present subject, of perfection and imperfection of
state, and of happiness and unhappiness as their resMts, we speak of
these as they exist in the Christian disciple. If we are disciples of
Christ, the sense of imperfection and of the unhappiness arising from
it gives us the desire we express in prayer. AVhatever be the imme
diate object of our desire, the union of goodness and truth iu our
hearts and minds is the first principle and ultimate end of our prayers.

Chap. XVIL] ST. JOHN. 403
if they are sincere. Happines.<! is the end and aim of our being, and
perfection is the only true means by Avhich that end can be attained.
The heavenly marriage of goodness and truth is tbe very and only
ground of perfection and happiness. In this, as in everything else,
the Lord Jesus is our teacher and pattern, for he Avas glorified as Ave
are regenerated. He, it is certaiu, desired and prayed more directly as
well as more fervently than we do, for that union in which perfection
consists, the union of love and wisdom in himself Aud such is
the petition he now addresses to the Father: "And now, 0 Father,
glorify me Avith thine own self, Avith the glory I had Avith thee before
the Avorld was." It is the Divine Wisdom that prays, and his
prayer is " Glorify me Avith thine oavu self," a prayer Avhich, in its
absolute sense, might be offered by him only in whom could dwell all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily. It can mean nothing else than that
the Father would give himself to the Son, that the Divinity, with all
its attributes, might take such entire possession of his humanity, that the
humanity would become divine. When this Avas effected, the divinity
and humanity were so fully united as to have that perfect oneness for
which the Lord prayed. And Avhether we speak of the union of
huraanity Avith divinity, or the union in the humanity itself of divine
love and wisdom, it amounts to the same; for the union of the Lord's
divinity and humanity was consequent upon and coincident Avith the,
union of love and wisdom in the humaMty itself Therefore the Lord
proceeds to say, " Glorify me with the glory which I had with thee
before the world Avas." The glory which Jesus had with the Father
before the creation of the world Avas the glory of infinite AVisdom in
union Avith infinite Love. As Divinity cannot pray, the present
petition could not be offered up by the Eternal Word, as it was in
itself, but as it was in humanity, aud indeed in humanity not fully
glorified. It was the Incarnation that gave Jesus, as the Divine
AVisdom, a sense of separation from the Father, as the Divine Love,
and which gave rise to this aspiration after union, or re-union with
hira. This union was glorification, and the Lord's glorification was.
the return of the Divine Wisdom into the glory which it had with-
Divine Love before the world was, but it returned with and m the
humanity which the Lord had assumed and glorified in the world.
6. The whole of the present prayer, so far as it relates to the dis
ciples, is in conformity with the view we have now presented. I huve
manifested thy name unto the men which thou guvest me out of the
world: thine they were, caul thou guvest them me; and they have kept
thy word. The name of God is expressive of his nature. Jesus mani-

404 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVII
fested not only the name but the nature of God — the divine attributes,
the divine Avill and Avisdom, and this he did both in his person aud in
his Avords and Avorks. He had manifested these to the men which the
Father had given him out of the Avorld. Those whora the Father gives
him out of the world, are those Avho have allowed themselves to be drawn
by the love of God from the love of the Avorld. All Avhom the Lord can
hold in connection with himself by the power of his love, are those
of whom he says to the Father, " Thine they Avere ;" and, Avhen
-draAvn by the Lord's love to the reception of his truth, are those of
Avhom the Lord says, "And thou gavest them me." AU who are in
simple good, AA'hether they be adults or chUdren, Christians or heathens,
are so far receptive of the Lord's love as to be preserved in connection
Avith himself and heaven. But good alone does not make the true
Christian and angelic character ; this can oMy be formed by good
and trutii united. It is therefore the constant object of the Lord's
providence and grace to draw all who are in good to the knowledge and
.acknowledgment of his tmth. It is thus that the Father is ever draw
ing men to the Son, and that the Son is ever leading men to the
Father : for through good the Lord disposes men to seek after and
receive truth, that by the truth He may spiritualize theh good, and
make it such that his love may dAvell in it and be manUested by it.
Those who are given by the F'ather to the Son being such as the Lord
draws by his love to his truth, he therefore adds, " and they bave kept
thy word." The Lord's Avord is his truth. AVhen this is caUed the
Father's word, it is truth from love that is meant. Those who are
drawn by love to truth, "keep" the Lord's word; they not oMy know
it but live it, and by living it they realize it in themselves.
7. The hearing of the Lord's Avords gives the knoAvledge of the
Fatiier to the Son. Now they have Icnoicn that cdl things, whatsoever
thou hast given me, are of thee. All things that the Son possessed he
had received from the Father ; they Avere therefore divine. The dis
ciples had now come to knoAv this. The acquisition of this knowledge
belongs to a corresponding stage of all true discipleship. The true
divinity of Chiist, which is the divinity of Ms humanity, is not knoAvn,
in the Scripture sense, till the disciple keeps the Father's words. We
never truly know or believe in the divinity of the Lord's humanity till
its image is reflected in our oavu experience. Spirituality m us is the
image of divinity in the Lord. To knoAv that all things Avhich the Son
hath are of the Father, is also to know that all things of divine truth
are of divine good, the express image of its substance (Heb. i. 3). The
essence is the all of the form, the substance is the all of the image.

Chap. XA^L] ST. JOHN. 405
The Lord's divine truth, or his divine huraanity, is nothing but Divine
Love in its form. And the disciple knoAvs this Avhen his oavu faith in
Jesns is the form and image of Ms love for Jesus, or Avhen his oavu
truth is the form and image of his oavu goodness.
S. The Lord continues. For I have given unto them the words which
thou guvest me; caid they huve received them, and have known
surely that I came out from thee, and they huve believed tlud thou didst
.send me. The Lord's Avords, though human iu theh expression, Avere
in their origin and in their nature divine ; and though Avords of tmth,
Avere also Avords of love. The Lord's Avords are to the disciple Avords
of love Avhen received in love. It is this which gives the disciple to
knoAv surely that Divine Truth itself came out from Divine Love, and
to believe that on Avhatever mission it comes, it is a messenger sent by
infinite love and mercy for the salvation and happiness of man.
Divine truth, aa'c have seen (chap. viii. 42), came not of itself but
divine love sent it. If Divine Truth had come of itself and alone, it
Avould have condemned aU ; it Avas because Love sent it, and dAvelt
Avithin it, that it came to save all, and that it saves all Avho receive it
in love. Truth received without love still condemns ; for those who
kiiOAv, but love not, are liable to the judgment : " The Avords that I
have spoken, the same shall judge you iu the last day." Hence the
Lord's joy that now his disciples kiicAv surely that he came out from
God. Even this, hoAvever, was but half the knowledge Avhich, as true
disciples, they were required to possess. They knew surely that Jesus
had come out from God ; but they did not yet know, and Avere unAvUling
to learn, that he returned to God again. They kncAV not that he must be
glorified. Because he had told them this, sorrow had Mled theh hearts.
9. / prcaj for them: I pray ¦not for the world, bid for them which
thou hast given me; for they are thine. The peojjle of the world were
not UOAV the objects of the Lord's prayer ; the Avoiid itself, in its ab
stract sense, as consisting of the principles of the Avorld, was not, and
could not be. Those given by the Father to the Son were the opposite
of those of Avhom the world consisted. The Father's were the good,
the world's were the evil. The objects of the Lord's present prayer
Avas, that those who had been raised out of and above the Avorld, and
had been brought by goodness to the acknoAvledgment of the truth,
might be preserved in it. The Lord prayed also (for this is included
in the prayer) that in the mmd of every disciple the affections of good
wMch had been united to perceptions of truth, might be preserved and
perfected. But the Lord prayed not for the world, not for the worldly
element that yet mingled with -the heavenly principles Avhich the

406 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIL
disciples had received from Jesus ; this Avas rather to be deprecated
than prayed for.
10. Having said (ff those he prayed for, " they are thine,'' the Lord
adds. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine : and I am glorified
i.n them. In reference to the Lord himself, these words mean, that the
divinity of the Father belongs to the humanity of the Son, and that
the humanity of the Son belongs to the divinity of the Father, thus
that, in Christ, God is man, and man is God. As all things, so all
persons, that are truly the Sou's are also the Father's, and aU that are
really the Father's are also the Son's. All who are really in trutii are
also in goodness, and all avIio are really in goodness are also in truth :
all Avho have faith have also love, and all Avho have love have also fiiith.
While being regenerated, the disciple has both good and truth, but
they are both imperfect, and imperfectly united. Each is perfected by
the other. Trutii purifies and enlightens good, and good exalts and
warms truth. When the one is purified and the other is exalted, then
are they united, and their union constitutes regeneration. Then it is
that whatever one has is the other's. Good belongs to truth, and is its
life, and trutii belongs to good, and is its Ught. This is the state iu
the disciple to AA'hich the Lord's words refer : " All mine are thine, and
all thine are mine." And as the Lord is glorified in those who are re
generated, in the regenerate are fulfilled the divine Avords, " and I am
glorified in them." Glory, Avhen it relates to the Lord, properly means
the divme truth proceeding from him, because divine trutii is the light
of heaven, from Avhich angels and men derive not only all inteIUg(3nce
and Avisdom, but likeAvise all happiness. And since this is glory, it is
therefore the glory of the Lord to enlighten angels and men, and give
them intelUgence and Avisdom, and bless them Avith everythmg happy
and delightful, and give magnificence to aU things in heaven. Divine
glory has therefore nothing m common Avith human glory ; for iu
human glory men seek their oavu splendour, but in divme glory the
Lord seeks to make others illustrious.
11. The Lord continues, And now I am no more vn the world, hut
these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through
thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one,
<is we are. The Lord was no longer in the Avorld (chap. xvi. 33).
The disciples had not yet overcome the world ; therefore they were yet
in it. But Jesus overcame the Avorld, that he might enable Ms dis-
cip)les to overcome also. AA^'hile his disciples are yet in the world,
passing through its tribulations, striving to overcome it iu theh oavu
hearts, the Lord's desire and his prayer is. " Holy Father, keep tMough

CH.-VP. XA^L] ST. JOHN. 407
thine oavu name those Avhom thou hast given me." Jesus, who had
hitherto addressed the divinity by the simple name of F"'ather, uoav
calls him Holy Father. God is appropriately called Holy, Avhen the
preservation of the members of the church is the desired blessmg. The
Lord prays that the Father may keep the disciples through his oavu
name. In the highest sense Jesus himseU is the Father's name, be
cause he made him kiioAvu ; and holiness is eminently charaoteristii'
both of Jehovah and Jesus. " Thou art holy, 0 thou that inhabitest
the piraises of Isrticl" (Ps. xxii. 3). Jesus prophetically is called the
Holy One (Ps. x\-i. 10) ; from Ms conception he Avas holy (Luke i. 35) ;
and in heaven he is glorified as that One avIio only is holy (,Rev. xv.
4). As the Lord himself is holy, heaven is the throne of his holiness
(Ps. xIa'u. 8), and holiness becometh his house on earth (Ps. xciii. 5).
The Lord is a holy God, and the members of his church are a holy
people. To keep the disciples inthe Holy Father's name is to preserve
them iu a state of hohness. The holiness Avhieli characterises the dis
ciples of Jesus, is that Avhich characterised Jesus himself, the holiness
wMch he alone is, and can alone impart to men. That holiness is in
his humanity, as being the name or form of his divinity ; in his truth,
as being the name or expression of his love. But the Lord prays for
the preservation of those whom the Holy Father had given him ; that
those Avho have been drawn by love to truth may by the same influence
be maintained in faith. The object of this is, " that they may be one
as Ave are." The unity of the disciples is au effect and image of the
unity of the Father and the Son. The Father and the Sou, the divinity
and the humanity, are one, as the soul and the body are one, as the wM
and the understanding are one, as good and trutii are one. This unity
of divinity aud humanity in the Lord is the grand archetype of unity
in man, aud of unity among men. All discord in men's minds and
among men has its cause iu the disunion and enmity of the spirit and
the flesh, of the wiU and the understanding. To reconcUe these the
Lord took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh, or humaMty, in its
natural discordance Avith the spirit. When the Lord had effected the
reconcUiation and union of the flesh and the spirit in himself, he pro
vided for reconciliation and union in and among his disciples. Hoav
beneficent the Avork that provided for this ! hoAV mercifM the prayer
that desired it ! This is the grand consummation, that our uMty be
like that of the Father and the Son ; that Ave all may be one as they
are one. The Spirit and the flesh are one, when we have overcome
the lusts of the flesh, and the old man with aU his natural lusts has
given place to the new man Avith aU Ms spiritual affections ; Avhen the

408 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVII.
desires of the Avill and the thoughts of the understanding are in a state
of concord ; when man AviUs as he thinks, and thinks as he wUls ;
Avhen goodness and truth, charity and faith, are imited in every act
of the mind and life. This is the unity which is to result from the
unity which the Lord eff'ected in himself and Avliich alone can recon
cUe all things in him ; unity in each, unity among all.
12. Our Lord says. While I was with them in the world, I kept them
in thy name : those thcd thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them
is lust, but the sun of perdition ; thcd fhe scripjture might be fulfilled.
While the Lord Avas iu the Avorld, he kept the disciples iii the Father's
name, and he now prays that AA'hen he is no longer in the Avorld, the
Father himself may keep them hi his oavu name. The two periods
our Lord speaks of are analogous to tAvo states that occur in the experi
ence of aU disciples. The first is a state m Avhich they are kept m
goodness by the power of truth, the second is a state in wMch they are
kept in truth by the poAver of goodness. The Lord himself is both
Father and Son, both Good itself and Truth itself In the first state
he is Avith the disciples as truth leading them to good, in the second
state he is in them as good leading them by truth. The Lord had
thus kept all whom the Father had given him — aU aa'Uo had been
drawn to Ms truth by the mfluence of his love. Among the disciples
tiiere Avas one exception in the son of perdition. Judas is mentioned
as one of those Avhom the Father had given to the Son ; for he repre
sents those who are drawn to the truth by love, but afterAvards fall
aAvay, and are thus gMlty of profanation, Avhich is the greatest of aU
sins. In the general sense, Judas represented the JeAvish Church,
AvMch, AA'hUe it possessed the AVord, perverted its truths, as Judas
betrayed the Incarnate Word in the person of the Lord. Judas re
presented also the carnal principle of human nature, in Avhich aU
perversion of truth originates, and therefore also the carnaUy minded
among men, who turn the truth into an instrument of advancing theh
own interests. When, histead of using the truth to purify their hearts,
men employ it to advance their selfish and Avorldly purposes, they
profane the truth ; and then, instead of being sons of God, they are
sons of perdition. The Avord translated perdition means utter destruc
tion, and is the same that occurs hi Revelation (ix. 11) as the name of
the angel of the bottomless pit, AA'ho was king over the array of locusts,
that came out of the ascending smoke of the abyss. Locusts are em
blematical of the sensual principle ; and Avhen this principle rules, the
perdition or utter destruction of all good and truth is the re:,ult, for
when one is the slave of his senses, he either denies or perverts every

Chap. XVIL] ST. JOHN. 409
spirUual good aud truth. Therefore the locusts had a king over them,
AA'hose name is ApoUyon, the destroyer. Noav Judas represented the
lowest sensual or oorporetd principle of human nature. The loss of
the son of perdition is said to have been the fulfilment of Scripture.
When one is caUed a son of perdition, or a child of the devU, it indi
cates that he has, by confirmed prmciple and habit, acquired as a
second nature the character of Avhich these terms express. For, as we
have seen (chap. i. 13), no one is naturally either a child of God or a
chUd of the devil, but becomes so by being born in the likeness of him
Avho is the object of his rulmg love. In a more specific sense, a son
of perdition is the false principle AA'hich is an outbirth from evU ; for
as tmth is the offspring of goodness, falsity is the offspring of evil.
The son of perdition is said to have been lost, that the Scripture might
be fMfiUed. The prophecy respecting Judas occurs m the 109th Pstdm,
Avhere the Lord's deep temptations are treated of, and Avhere the sever
est imprecations are uttered agamst Ms enemy.
13. And now come I to thee: cmd these things I speak in the ¦world,
that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. The union of the
human with the divine m the person of the Lord Avas uoav at hand.
In this and other parts of this holy prayer, Jesus speaks as if this
union Avere already accomplished. It is not unusual in the Word to
speak of future events, especiaUy Avhen they relate personaUy to the
Lord, as if they were present ; as, " unto us a child is born — thou art
my son, this day have I begotten thee." But there Avas an additional
reason in the present instance. The Lord's glorification, as Ave have
remarked, was effected by successive degrees ; and each of these con
sisted of tAvo distinct acts, one internal, the othfer external. The glori
fication of the Lord's internal man was now effected ; and all that Avas
required to complete the great Avork was the passion of the cross, by
Avhich Ms external man, even to the body, Avas to be made divine.
His words, " and now come I to thee," express the complete union of
the human with the divine, which was now at hand, and which he
speaks of as aheady accomplished. Although he was thus no longer
in the world, Ms disciples were yet in it. Hence the Avords, " and
these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy ful
fiUed in themselves." In the spiritual sense, not the Avorld only as a
place, but the world also as a state, is that of Avliich the Lord speaks.
Literally, he addressed his prayer to the Father whUe he was present
with his disciples. Sphitually, this describes what he does uoav, and
will ever continue to do, whUe his disciples are yet in the world, and
the world is yet in them, not enthely overcome. In reference to the

410 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XVIL
disciples in all times, this prayer of the Lord is the aspiration of his
truth iu the understanding after union with his loA'e in the heart, and
for the fulness of heavenly joy as the blessed result of that union.
This joy the Lord calls his joy. That Avhich the Lord calls his own
joy is that Avhioli truth has Avhen united Avith good. The force of this
Avill be better seen if we reflect, that regeneration is a Avork of labour
and sorroAv. Trutii is the active agent by Avhich regeneration is
effected, aud it performs this work by combating the evils of the
natural mind, aud remoA'ing them. The conflict Avith evU is a time of
sorrow. But Avhen the conflict is ended, and truth is united to good
ness, or faith Avith love, this sorroAv is turned into joy. This joy being
as yet prayed for, but not realized, impUes that trutii is yet in the natural
mind, Avhich is the Avorld individually and experimentally considered.
The joy for Avhicli the Lord prayed is his own, not only because our
regeneration is an image of his glorification, but also because the joy
of the regenerate state is the Lord's own joy fulfilled in us.
1 4. AA''e have said that regeneration is effected by divine trutii com
bating against the evils of the natural mind. This our Lord uoav
speaks of / liave given them thy Word; and the worlrl hath hcdel
them, because they are not ofthe world, even as I am not ofthe world.
The truth Avhich is the instrument of regeneration is not trutii alone ;
truth from goodness is that which forms the real commencement of
the new life and of Christian experience. This truth is that of Avhich
the Lord speaks in the present case, for the word, Avhich he gaA'e
his disciples, Avas the Father's Avord. It is truth from this origin
and of this quality that is antagonistic to Avorldly loA'e, aud
makes the disciple not of the Avorld. The Avoiid within us does
not rise up in opposition to truth in the form of knoAvledge, but to
truth as tlie forra of goodness. The world hates those who receive the
Father's word ; for truth from heavenly love is the opposite of falsity
from worldly love, and never fails to excite its hatred and hostUity.
Such truth makes the discijjle not of this Avoiid, even as the Lord, as
the Truth itself from Goodness, is not of this Avorld.
15. I pray not thcd thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. This prayer, regarded
in its natural sense, teaches a most Avholesorae and useful doctrme.
The Avorld is a school for heaven. Its duties, its satisfactions, its trials
are all divinely appointed or permitted, as means for educating us hito
a life of usefulness and happiness in a higher Avorld. It is in these
that the Christian finds a field for the exercise of his principles of love
to God and to his neighbour. A life of seclusion ma)' be more favour-

Chap. XVIL] ST. JOHN, 411
able to mental religion and habits of outAvard piety. Eut religion does
uot consist in thinking of God but in doing his Avill ; nor does it con
sist in formal but in essential piety. God should be iu aU our thoughts,
Avords, and deeds. And he is so, Avheii we think, speak, and act under
the influence of his love and truth, Avhether the AVOiid or heaven be the
Unmediate object of our attention. The notion that the labours and
cares of this Avorld are inimical to the cultivation of the heavenly life
originates in an entire mistake as to what the heavenly life is. The
Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses. Aud the Avhole economy of our pre
sent life is so ordered by the laAvs of creation aud providence, as to be the
most suitable means of initiating us into the duties and uses of the king
dom above. Being a school for the piractice of righteousness, the Avorld has
its temptations to A-ice as vveU as its incentives to virtue. The tree of death
stiU groAvs by the side of the tree of life ; and true virtue consists in
choosing the good and refusing the evil. Jesus, while he desires not that
his disciples should be taken out of the Avorld, prays that they may be
kept from the evil. He does not even desire that tbe evil may be kept
from them ; but only that they may be kept from the evil. The evil
that is m the Avorld as smful acts, is also in ourselves as sinful in
clinations ; and unless we could be separated from ourselves, our re
moval from the outer Avorld would do us no service. Nay, it Avould
do us injury ; it would deprive us of the opportimity of overcoming
the Avoiid, because it Avoul.d cut off the connection between the love of
the world and the Avorld itself, during the action and reaction of Avhicli
the love of the Avorld is overcome. AVe do not become virtuous by
fleeing from temptation, but by overcoming it. AVe do not become
unworldly by retiring from the world, but by living an uuAvoiidly
Ufe in it. It is only in the Avorld that we can really overcome the
world, for it is only there that our principles are brought to the test of
practice. Besides the benefits lost by the recluse, Ave are also to con
sider the benefits he might confer. We are brought iuto this world,
not for our oavu sake only, but for the sake of others ; not merely to
press onAvard ourselves, but to help others, in the Christian journey.
While, therefiire, the sphere of the Cliristian's life is in the Avorld, it is
the Lord's desire that he should so live in it as to make its very evils
a means of good; for he only is trMy good Avhose goodness has resisted
temptations to evil The purely spiritual sense we have partly antici
pated in speaking of the Avorld as being within us. In this sense, the
disciples are the principles of goodness and truth, Avhich have beeu
implanted in the miud by the Lord ; the Avorld is the natural mind
itseU; and the evU of the world is the hereditary and acquired ca'U of

412 ST. JOHN. [Chap XVII.
Avhich the natural mind is the seat. That spiritual good may become
a prmciple of life, it must be lived. It is not enough that it exist as
an intention of the mind ; it must exist also as an act and habit of
the life. Good is not, therefore, to be cultivated as an abstract princi
ple, unconcerned with the Avorld and its affairs, but is to be kept from
the evil that exists in connection Avith them. That it may be able to
do this, it is necessary that the good should not be mingled with the
evil, so as in any degree to be confounded Avith it, or contaminated
by it. The Lord exquisitely separates good from evU in the human
mind ; and his Providence is constantly operating to preserve what is
from himself unmixed Avith anything that is from the Avorld. To mix
good and evil is to profane what is holy, Avhich brings the soul into
the deepest misery. That the disciples may be in the Avorld, but that
they may be kept from the ca'U, is, therefore, a prayer Avliich the Lord,
who once uttered it himself, now inspires into the heart of every tme
disciple, and the object of which every disciple should strive to realize.
16. The Lord places this truth iu stUl clearer light, by saymg, They
are not of the wurld, even us I am not of the world. The Lord's ex
ample is a practical reproof of every form of abstract religion, Avhether
pious or sentimental. He lived m the world among men, teaching
them -wisdom and doing them good ; he met them in the synagogue
and m the temple, in the market-place and m the street, entered Avith
them into the house of mourning and sat down with them at their social
feasts. His life in the Avoiid was short ; he Avas thirty years old before
he began his public ministry. Yet it is remarkable that although he
Uved tiU then in retirement, hardly anything is recorded or eA'en Muted
as to the mode or tenor oi his life. His uuAvritten Avas preparatory to
his recorded life. What its particular form may have been, we knoAv
not ; but this Ave do knoAv, that it was to find its result in a Me of
unbounded beneficence and of tbe purest holiness. WhUe he lived in
the world, he could truly say, " I am not of the Avoiid." He was
neither actuated by its prmciples nor stained by its impurities. He
was holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Such, in his measure,
should the Christian disciple be. And such the true disciple is. Of
his own disciples, and of all true disciples, the Lord says, " They are
not of the world, even as I am not of the Avorld." All that comes
from the Lord is like himself; and one of the means avo have of
knowing that we are really his disciples, is the unworldly character
of our OAvn minds and lives. In the world, but not of the Avorld, is
the description the Lord gives of Ms true followers. So is it of the
prmciples themselves which make men true disciples. They are not of

Chap. XVIL] ST. JOHN. 413
the world though in it. In this respect they are like the Lord himself
Every truth that comes frora the Lord is unworldly in its nature, like
the divine truth itself frora which it is derived, and it guides the dis
ciple into an unAvorldly life.
17. The disciples, by being not of the Avorld, are capable of advanc
ing in spiritual purity and perfection. Sanctify them through thy
truth, thy word is truth. To sanctUy is to make holy. Sanctification
is effected by divine truth ; yet not by divine truth alone, as received
into the understanding oMy, but by divine tmth proceeding from
divine love, and received also into the heart. The divine truth Avhich
thus sanctifies is the Word — the Avritten AVord, which is the immediate
fountain of all regenerating and saving truth ; and eminently the Lord
himself, as the AVord made flesh, the Source and Giver of truth. AU
the efficacy of the Avritten AA'^ord is frora the living AVord Avho dweUs
within it ; and the Lord, as the AA^ord, is Divine Wisdom from Divine
Love. Divine love or goodness, which is called the Father, is the
origin of all sanctification and salvation ; but divine goodness always
acts by the understanding. When we hear, in tMs and other parts of
the Old and New Testaments, of the Word of God, we are liable to
tMnk of it as Ave think of a word uttered by a human being, as at best
the expression of a thought by one mind, that conveys an idea to
another. Words are not so limited in their scope as this. The words
which a man utters contain his whole mind, for the very essence of Ms
thought and affection is embodied in every expression. But the mind
of man is finite, and his words partake of his finiteness and imperfec
tion. This is the case even when he speaks the truth, and speaks it
in love. AVitli the Divme Being the case is different. He not only
speaks the truth, but he is the Truth itself which he speaks ; he not
only speaks the truth from love, but he is the Love itseU from Avhich he
speaks. In the supreme sense the Lord himseU is the Truth, through
or m AvMch the disciples are sanctified ; and he himself is the Word
wMch is truth, and in whom there is sanctification. The Father
sanctifies the disciples by his word, Avhen the Lord frora his divine
love purifies and regenerates his people by his divine truth.
18. After being sanctMed by the truth the disciples are to be sent
forth to proclaim it. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have
I sent them into the world. The disciple is to follow his (Uvine Master
in the work of evangelizing the world, as hi every other work. But
there is another and deeper meaning in the Lord's Avords than this.
The Avorld into which the Lord descended, and in which he laboured,
was the world of fallen humanity. In the humanity which the Lord

414 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVll.
assumed from a daughter of fallen Eve the whole world AA'as compre
hended. The Lord came into this world as Divine Truth, to save it
from sin, and restore it to righteousness. But he did not simply ccime,
he was sent, and sent of the F'ather. He did not come as the Divine
Truth only ; he was sent by the Divine Love. Divine Truth proceeded
from Divine Love ; and coining, as it did, forth from the bosom of Love,
Tmth acted under the influence of Love, and in all its operations carried
out its beneficent ends. As the Father sent the Son into the world, so
the Son sent, and still sends, the disciples into the world. In all things
they are to do as Jesus did. They are not to go of themseh'es and by
themselves : they are to go as those sent of the Lord, and are to work
iu the spirit of his love as well as in the strength of his truth. And
this they are to do, whether they enter into the world in themselves
or go into the Avorld around thera. Their work, whether it be for
their oavu regeneration or for that of others, is an iraage of that Avhich
our Lord performed. As the Father sent him, so does he send us.
19. The Lord had prayed the Father to sanctify the disciples through
his truth. In this, as in all other things, the Lord MmseU was their
example, as he now declares. And, for their sakes I sanctify myself, that
they also might be sanctified through the truth. This declaration of
our Lord contains the essence of Christianity — the immediate purpose
of the Incarnation, and the ground of human hope for salvation. It
teaches the sublime but simple truth, that the Lord sanctified human
nature in himself, that in his disciples human nature might be sancti
fied. We have often had occasion to remark that the Lord as
sumed human nature m its fallen and degenerate state, that he might
restore it to perfection in his OAvn person : and that this Avas the only
means by which even infinite power could restore fallen humanity to
something of its original order and happmess. In no part of the Word
is this trutii declared more directly or clearly than in these blessed
words. AVe learn frora them, that the Lord sanctified himself; and
that he sanctified himself that he might sanctify his disciples. So long
as men understand not this great truth, they are ignorant of the real
purpose and use of the Incarnation, and of the A'ery nature of salvation.
Christians rightly believe that the sanctification of men Avas the end
and purpose of the Lord's coming ; but feAV if any seem to knoAV, or
even to conceive, that before the Saviour could sanctify men, he had
first to sanctify himself. So far from this being the case, it is com
monly believed that he came into the Avorld free frora aU the heredi
tary effects of sin, and that the very circumstance of his being already
holy Avas the ground of his capability of being a Saviour. For it is be-

Chap, XVIL] ST, JOHN. 415
Ueved that Jesus redeemed his people by bearing tlieir sins, laid upon
Mm by imputation, and dying as a sinless victim in their stead. This
declaration of our Lord seems irreconcUable with such an opinion. It
makes the case of the disciple run parallel with his oavu ; of Avhich it
is at once a resemblance and an effect. This has been felt as a difficulty
by those who hold the view, that Christ died as a substitute for sinners.
Thus one remarks on this passage: — "To sanctify, iu application to
CMist, means only to consecrate ; whereas in application to the dis
ciples, it signifies to consecrate, with the additional idea of previous
sanctification, since notMng but what is holy can be presented as an
offering." It is assumed that the sanctification of Christ does not mean
to make holy, but only to consecrate ; and the reason given for this is,
that Christ coMd not have been made an offering uMess he had been
pure. This is perfectly true. Jesus could not have made himself an
offering for sm if he had not himself been sinless. The laAv of the
Jewish church, that every animal offered on the altar must be Avithout
spot or blemish, was a law that looked through these offerings to the
Lord, whom they all represented. The great error consists in suppos
ing that Jesus Avas born Avithout spot or blemish, free from the corrup
tion of nature which we all inherit. As the Son of God, he Avas, in
deed, a holy thmg, but as the son of Mary, he Avas the inheritor of all
human fraUty. The imputation of sin being impossible, he bore our
sms m his OAAm bodj', in the only way in Avliich they could be borne, by
taking upon him human nature as it then existed, containing in it the
seeds of all evil. Inconsequence of inheriting our faUen nature, Jesus
could be tempted in all points as we are. In overcoming these temp
tations he sanctified himself He made himself spotless by living a
spotless life. In this consisted the efficacy of his sacrifice ; for " Avhen he
had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high " (Heb. i. 3) ; " for such an high priest became us,
Avho is holy, undefiled, separate frora sinners, and made higher than
the heavens ; who needeth not daily to offer up sacrifice, first for his
own sins, and then for the people's ; for this he did once, when he
offered up himself" (vii. 26). Christ's purity did not consist in being
free from hereditary evU, but in being free from practical sin. There
Avould have beeu no merit m being born Avithout hereditary evU ; but
there was great merit in living Avithout actual sin. Nor would there
have been any great merit in Christ living a sinless lUe, if he had had
no hereditary tendency to sin ; but there was great merit in living
Avithout sin, Avhen the ordinary tendency and ground of temptation to
sin were in the human nature he assumed. Had Jesus been Avithout

416 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVII.
those tendencies to sm, which aU other men have, there would have
been no real parallel betAveen the Saviour and the saved. Not only
so, but the disciple would, in one respect, have been above Ms master.
For surely it is more difficult to become righteous, where there is the
inclination as well as the temptation to sin, than it is to become righte
ous where there is no tendency to evU. But to take the Lord's words
without human glosses upon them, there is nothing more plain than
that his Avork is to be repeated in his disciples, always understanding
that their works and the Lord's are very different in degree, though
perfectly simUar in kind. It is the perfect parallel between them that
gives point to the Lord's words, and which constitutes the great truth
which our Lord inculcated. The Lord came into the Avorld for the
very purpose of doing for man what man had become unable to do for
himself, that he might enable man to do as he had done. The Lord
consecrated himself by making his humanity holiness itself ; and from
that humanity, made holy, he is uoav able to make man holy ; m his
own measure perfect even as he is perfect. Such is the sublime truth
Avhich the Lord here teaches. It is one that Ave can never sufficiently
appreciate, which Ave can never too carefully treasure up in our hearts,
or strive to realize in our experience. " F'or their sake I sanctify my
self, that they also may be sanctified through the truth." Jesus himseU
is the Truth through or iu which we are sanctified : he himself is also
our sanctification. " Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption ;
that, according as it is Avritten, he that glorieth, let him glory m the
Lord" (1 Cor. i. 30).
20. .Tesus had just said of himself aud his disciples, " As thou hast
sent me into the Avorld, even so have I also sent thera into the world."
He now addresses the Father on behalf of those who shoMd receive
the message of salvation, which his servants were to carry into all
lands, and preach to every creature. Neither pray I for these cdune,
hut for them also 'which shall believe on me through their word. The
universal redemption aa'McU our Lord accomplished restored to all men
the capacity of accepting life eternal, Avhich he came freely to off'er to
aU. Redemption and salvation are distinct. All raen are redeemed,
for redemption was effected by the Lord subduing the powers of dark
ness, and delivering mankind from the state of spiritual bondage in
which Satan had held them, even to having possession of their bodUy
organs. All men are therefore restored by redemption to a state of
spiritual Uberty. As the subjugation of the powers of darkness by
the Lord effected man's redemption, the glorification of humanity by

Chap. XVIL] ST, JOHN. 417
the Lord provided for his salvation, for man is saved by being re
generated, and he can be regenerated because the Lord was glorified,
the lesser work being an effect and image of the greater. As all men
were redeemed, aU may be saved. Salvation is offered to all. Jesus
does not here pray for aU universally, but for those Avho should believe
in him through the teaching of the apostles ; but his object at present
is, not the salvation of man, but the unity in Him of aU who accept
the offered gift of his grace and mercy. This is expressed in the
words Avhich now folio av.
21. That they all may be one; as thou, Fcdher, art in me, and I in
thee, that they also muy he one in us: that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me. There are four interesting points included in this
petition. The Lord prays for the disciples that they all may be one.
Peace on earth, good will among men, was the angels' song of glorifica
tion on the birth of Jesus as the Saviour. The purpose of the gospel
is peace, and peace wiU be its effect so far as it is received in spirit and
in truth. Discord and Avar are the fruits of evU, concord and peace
are the fruits of righteousness. As the Lord is our righteousness, he
is also our peace. The Lord prays also that the disciples may be one,
as he and the Father are one. That of Avliich the Lord speaks is not
the oneness that existed betAveen God and the AVorcl before the incar
nation. This was not the cause and the pattern of Christian unity.
.Had it been so, there Avould have been no need for the AVord to have
come into the world. The cause aud pattern of Christian unity is the
union and oneness of the Lord's divine and human natures. It is
from this union that union among men comes. It is by virtue of the
Lord having reconciled and united man's nature to himself, that he
can UOAV reconcile and unite men to each other. Yet, Ave are to reflect
that unity among men is oMy a likeness of the uMty that exists
hetAveen the divinity and humanity of the Lord. In him they are one
person. The unity among raen, Avhich is produced by this unity m
the Lord, is according to the nature oi the unity of which men are
capable. The Lord prays also, respecting his disci|)les, " That they may
be one in us." Several times he had had occasion to quiet theh con
tentions, and teach them the duty of being united among themselves.
And he now makes their unity the subject of his prayers. Union
with the Lord, like unity among brethren, is produced tMough spiritual
unity m their own minds. The union of goodness and truth, or
of love and faith, in the mmds of the members of the church, is that
which disposes and enables them to become united to the Lord and to
each other. Without it there can be no true unity. The union of
2 D

418 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIL
goodness and truth in the minds of men is the proximate and the
truest image of the miion of divinity and humanity in the person of
the Lord ; and union among men is its secondary image. It is tMough
their individual likeness to the Lord that the disciples can be one in
him. The oneness among themselves and in the Lord is deshable for
this end — that the world may know that Jesus had been sent by the
Feather. The Lord had said, " By this shall all men know that ye are
my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Union among the dis
ciples of Jesus is a testimony that he Avas sent of God ; that he was
indeed from heaveu. There is something more than tMs taug'nt m these
divine words. As unity among brethren arises from the imion of
charity and faith in them individually ; so also general behef m the
Avorld is produced by particular belief in the individuals that compose
it. SpirituaUy, the world is the natural nund of man. Union among
the disciples is the harmony and unity existmg among the pirinciples
of the spiritual mind ; the result of AA'hich is, that belief is produced
in the natural miiid also, Avliich is man's little world. AA^^hen the
natural mind becomes sphitual, the Lord's AviU is done on earth as it
is doue m heaven.
22. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that
they may he one, even as we are one. In the 14th verse the Lord says
of the disciples, " I have given them thy word : " here he says, he had
given them the glory which the Father had given Mm. Glory is the
splendour of divine truth. Truth, when it irradiates the mind, is
glory, and is caUed the glory of God. Nor is there any other
glory given by the Divmity to the HumaMty, and by the Humanity to
men, than the lustre of divine tmth. It is, however, from good that
truth has its lustre or glory. The Father bemg the divine Love and
the Son the divine AVisdom, the glory AA'Mch the Father gives the
Sou is the glory Avhich divine Love gives to divine AVisdom. TMs
glory the Lord gives to his disciples Avhen he regenerates them, the
glory of the regenerate being au effect and image of his oAvn. Hence
the words, " that they may be one, even as Ave are one.'' The unity
of the Divme and the Human in the Lord is the origin and the pattern
of man's conjunction Avith God, and thence of aU uMtj-, harmony, and
peace among men.
23, The Lord explams the nature and manner of this union. I in
them, and thou in me, that they may he made perfect in one; and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved tlum, as
thou hast loved me. The divinity hi the humanity, the humanity in
the disciples. How clearly does tMs express the great gospel truth,

Chap. XVIL] ST. JOHN. 419
that the humanity Avhich the Lord assumed and glorified in the Avorld,
is the medium through Avliich the poAver and glory of the divinity
descends into the minds of men ! It Avas because men had separated
themselves from God, that God assumed humanity, as a medium of
communication and conjunction Avith mankind ; that he might be in
his humanity, and through his humanity in and among his people.
Jesus is the Mediator, not as a second divinity, pleading Avith God to
be reconcUed to smners, but as a Divine Alan, pleading Avith sinners
to be reconcUed to himseU. The humaMty is the true Mercy-seat, or
Propitiatory, Avhere God and man meet, and commune Avith each other,
and Avhere, over the ark of the testimony, and between the cherubim
of love and mercy, they can enter into au everlasting covenant of peace.
"I m them, and thou in me" is the explained mystery of the Incarna
tion. It is the means of perfecting in one the church ou earth aud m
heaven, and reooncUmg aU things unto himself, Avhether they be things
on earth, or thmgs m heaven (Col. i. 20). But all things in man are
capable of bemg made perfect m one, as weU as all things in heaven
and the church. And all the affections and thoughts are made perfect
m one, when they are thus united under one ruling love, and that
love is love to the Lord. And the disciples are thus perfected. Taken
even in the literal sense, the Lord's words are very instructive and en
couraging. They teach us that the disciples are objects of the same
mfinite love as that which the Father bestoAvs upon the Son. Divhie
love must mdeed be the same to all aud m aU. The oidy difference is
m the nature of the recipient and in the measure of the recejjtion.
The Son receives the Sphit Avithout measure ; the capacity of every
man and angel is limited, and reception is with no two alike. Yet the
divme Love is such, that it desires to impart itself to all, Avithout Umit,
and without partiality, and if it Avere possible, the Lord Avould raise aU.
into an equaUty Avith Mmself AVhile the Lord's Avords, iu theh plain
hteral meaMng, teach this heaveMy truth, in their spiritual meaning -
they contam another lesson. They teach Avhat avc have already had
occasion to state, that the disciples are not merely the objects but the
subjects of the divine love, of Avhich the Lord's Divinity is the Source,
and his Humanity is the Fountain.
24. Having uttered in prayer Avhat he deshes his disciples might
be, the Lord iioav expresses his desire as to Avhere they may be.
Fcdher, I will that they also ¦whom thou liust given me be with me where
I am; that they may heliold my glory, which thou hast given me; for
thou lovedst me before the foundtdiun of the world. The Lord deshes
two thmgs^that.his disciples may be with him where he is, and thal^

420 ST, JOHN. [Chap, XVIL
they may behold his glory. It is the Lord's desire that his people
should be with hhn in heaven, as the eternal home he has provided for
them. But the prayer includes more thau this. To be with him
Avhere he is, his disciples must be not only in the place, but m the
state, where he is. Where the Lord is, there is heaven ; but heaven
is a pilace of happiness because it is a state of holiness. In the eternal
Avorld, state and place are comcident and concordant. No one can
be in any other place than that for which his state has prepared Mm.
The righteous go to heaven, and the Avicked go to hell, simply because
each one has his heaven or his hell in his own bosom. The Lord's
prayer that his disciples may be Avith him where he is, has a deeply
practical sense. It is a prayer that they may be regenerated as he Avas
glorified. Hence his further prayer, that they may behold his glory.
By this is meant, not that they may be spectators of the personal
glory to which the Saviour has them raised, but that they may see
intellectuaUy the splendour of Ms wisdom, as exhibited m his works
of rederaption aud glorification, and as displayed in the mcreased lustre
of the Sun of heaven, as it shines in the minds of angels and men, and
illuminates aU the objects and subjects of human interest and intelU
gence in either world. Considered more nunutely, this prayer may he
clearly seen to have still another object. The Lord asks this blessing
for those whom the Father had given hira. His prayer, spirituaUy un
derstood, is the expression of Ms desire, that aU who have been drawn
to him by the infiuence of Ms love may be brought mto the fuU hght
of Ms Avisdom, that they may see his glory by understandmg his glori
fication, as the cause and the archetype of their own regeneration. V\e
may be Avhere the Lord is, and behold his glory, even AvMle we live ou
earth ; but m heaven, the glorification of the Lord's Humanity is the
highest theme of angelic contemplation, and the knowdedge of it is the
highest attainment of angelic wisdom. The Lord prefers this petition
ou the ground of the Father having loved him before the foundation
of the Avorld. Jesus had spoken of the glory Avliich he had Avith the
Father before the world Avas ; now he speaks of the Father's eternal
love for him. To the Son pertains glory, to the Father love. The
Son's glory is from the Father, the Father's love is iu the Sou, AVis
dom is the glory of love, love is the life of Avi?dom. So were they be
fore the foundation of the world. Can we think of this divine subject
m a personal sense ? There is no meaning worthy of the subject, in the
Son's being an object of the Father's love ; but there is a sublime mean
ing in the Son being the subject of the Father's love. Divine Wisdom
Avas that in wMch Divine Love delighted ; for wisdom is the conscious-

Chap, XVIL] ST. JOHN, 421
ness of love ; and is that in the Deity by which infinite love created
and governs, and by Avhich it redeems and saves, tbe world. Even.
under the Jewish dispensation they had some perception of this truth,,
so weU set forth in the Book of Proverbs, where Solomon says of
creative Wisdom, "When he prepared the heavens, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth, then I was by him as one brought up-
with him ; and I was daUy his delight, rejoicing always before him '"
(chap, viii, 27).
25, The Lord noAV speaks m the language of thanksgiving rather
than of prayer. 0 righteous Father, the world hcdh not known thee ;
but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
The world, because it knew not righteousness, knew not the righteous
Father, for none can know God as a righteous Being but those who
have something of his righteousness m them. Jesus kncAV the Fatiier
under tMs character, because he himself was the righteous or just One,
In one of Ms petitions (ver, 11) the Lord adihesses the Father as Holy;
here he calls him Righteous. He addresses the Father as holy, when
he prays Mm to keep through his own name those he had given to the
Son ; he calls hhn righteous, Avhen he declares that the world had not
known him, but that the Son had known him. God is the Holy One
more especially in relation to his church, and the Righteous One more
especiaUy in his relation to the world. One of the acts of the Holy
Spirit was, to convince the world of righteousness ; and this he was to
do because Jesus was going to the Father. But although the Avoiid
knew not the righteous Father, Jesus knew him. With the Lord to
knoAv was to possess. In this eminent sense Jesus alone knew the
Father, and he alone knoAvs him as the source of righteousness as of
every other divine attribute. No one can see and know God as he is
in himself; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath brought him forth to view. It is sufficient for the
disciples to know that the righteous Father sent Jesus into the world,
to declare and manifest his righteousness before men. It is an essential
mark of discipleship to know Jesus as that One in Avliom the righteous
Father has been manifested. This is the knoAvledge that belongs and
is pirofitable to the disciple. Jesus knows the Father ; the disciple
knoAvs Jesus as the Son of the Father, and thus he knoAvs the Father
in the Son. This is the strain that runs through the whole of this
prayer. " I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast
sent rae."
26, The Lord now, in the conclusion of his divine prayer, sums up
the whole truth he has expressed in its several petitions. And I have

422 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XVII,
declared unto them thy name, and will d.eclare it ; that the love where
with thou liust loved me muy be in them, a.nd I in them. It is very
evident that the divine name here means the divine nature, the divine
attributes, the divine character. The Lord not only declared this m
-Avords and in miracles, but in his own spotless and beneficent lUe,
Avhich was the exhibition of perfect God iu perfect man. But the
Lord not only declared the name, the character, of Ms Divinity in his
humanity, but he still declares it ; for he MmseU is that name. The
.humanity is the manifested form of the divinity. The divmity, with
all its perfections and operations, is brought near to us, and made
apprehensible by us, in the Lord Jesus Christ. But Avhat is the Lord's
purpose in thus declarmg the Father's name ? " That the love where-
AVith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." The end
and purpose of the Lord's declaring and being the divine name is, that
the love which he received from the Father raight be communicated to
men. It was the Lord's desire that his divine love might be brought
down into the hearts of men, that they might love one another even
as the Lord had loved them. But there was one other object the Lord
had in view. He desired, not only that the Father's Love might be in
them, but that he, as the Divine AVisdom, might be m them also. Ho
desired that his love might dweU in their hearts, and his AAisdom in
their understandings. The tmth expressed in this part of the prayer
is similar to that AvMch the Lord elscAvhere declared, when he promised
that both he and the Father Avould take up their abode with his per
fected disciples. But here the truth is enunciated in greater fuMess.
The love whereAvith the Father loA'ed the Son, as communicated bythe
Son to the disciples, is the Divine Love as brought near to them hi the
Lord's Humanity ; the Divine Love made human by the human life of
the Lord Jesus ; and having made his humanity the very form of Love,
He is now the Fount of love to sinful and suffering man. AAUsdom is
given, liOAvever, as well as Love, that Ave may have the laAv of Love
inscribed upon our understaudings as Avell as the affection of love
infused into our hearts. The union of love and wisdom in the miiid,
and their united operation in the life, form the ucav man, the highest
image of the divine man, the Lord and Savic'Jr, Jesus Christ,

Chap, XVIIL] ST. JOHN. 423

CHAPTER XVIII.
The prayer which the Lord addressed to the Father is folloAved, in
the progress of tbe gospel history, as recorded in this chapter, by a
series of events, directly leading to the fulfilment of the predictions
which Jesus had uttered more than once in the ears of his disciples,
that he must be put to death and rise again the third day.
1. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his dis
cipiles over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he
entered, and his disciples. The place from Avhich Jesus " went forth"
Avas the city of Jerusalem, and the place to Avhich he was repairing
was the garden of Gethsemane, the scene of his great agony and of his
betrayal. The brook over Avhich he passed flows through a deep
gorge between tbe city and the Alount of Olives, and falls into the
Dead Sea. It is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. The
first instance in which its name occurs has sorae historical resemblance
to the present case, and may be concluded to have a typical reference
to it. AA'hen king David, folloAved by his weeping people, " Avent
forth " from Jerusalem to escape the wrath of his rebellious son,
Absalom, he passed over the brook Kidron, towards the way of the
AvUderness (2 Sam. xv. 23). When Solomon granted Shemei txn
asylum in Jerusalem, it Avas on the condition that he shoMd not, on
pain of death, pass over the brook Kidron, a penalty which he incurred
Avhen he crossed it in pursuit of his two fugitive servants, Avho had
fled to Gath (1 Kings ii. 37). The name of the stream suitably
expresses the nature of the circumstances connected Avith it. The
brook Cedron means the black, turbid stream. The reading Avhich
has led some to understand it to mean the brook of cedars, is believed
to OAve its origin to the natural mistake of some copyist, who took
Kedron to be the Greek used for cedar trees hi the plura,l, and who
therefore made the article agree with it, Avhereas in the HebreAv it is
singMar. There does not seem to bo any question among the best
Biblical scholars as to the identity of the Cedron or Kidron of the New
Testament and that of the Old. The black and turbid stream over
which Jesus uoav passed might suggest, even to the natural mind, the
dark and troubled state on Avhich he Avas about to enter. But the
chcumstances connected Avith the Mstorical events of Scripture are not
to be regarded simply as poetical images to please the imagination, but
as spiritual analogies to eMighton the understanding. Jerusalem aud
all other parts of the Holy Land Avere typical. Canaan represented the

424 ST. JOHN, [Chap. XVIIL
church, of Avhich Jerusalem is the inmost but inteUectual part., thus
the church as to doctrine, or the doctrine of the church. The Mount
of Olives, over against Jemsalera, represented the principle of holy
love, especially love to the Lord. The dark stream that ran through the
valley which separated the city and Mount Olivet, like the Jordan itself,
which divided Canaan from the wilderness, and through whose SAVoUen
Avaters the children of Israel passed into the proraised land, Avas a
symbol of temptation. The Avaters themselves are emblematical of
truths, even of holy truths of the Word. But truth, ever the same in
its oAvn nature, is affected by the state of the raind through which it
ffoAvs. It is smooth or troubled, clear or turbid, bright or dark,
according as the mind is so. It reflects our mental states, and by this
means helps us to see and correct them. Our Lord, who was the
Truth itself, as being the Word, Avas the subject of such states as Ave
ourselves experience, but he Avas the subject of them, not because he
Avas the AVord, but because he Avas the Word made flesh. It is the
flesh that casts its dark shadow over the truth, and AA'hich troubles its
peaceful aud sullies its pure Avaters. AVhen this takes place it is
the time of tribulation. When our Lord passed over the brook
Cedron it was to go into a garden. This was the garden of Gethsemane,
Avhich means the olive-press, Avhere Jesus trod the olive-press alone —
AA'here he endured temptation of the deepest and direst kind from the
Avliole powers of darkness, the conquest of which Avas necessary for
human deliverance. The garden of Eden Avas the place Avhere the
first Adam Avas tempted and fell, the garden of Gethsemane Avas tlio
place where the second Adam endured temptation aud overcame. The
garden, spiritually considered, is the mind itself, AA'heie the affections
of good and the perceptions of truth have been planted by the hand of
the Lord, and Avhere the choice is to be made between the tree of
life and the tree of death. The second Adam chose the tree of life,
and so introduced life where death had been and had reigned. In this
Ms disciples have to foUoAV him. They too have to enter into temp
tation, and although they cannot endure the same depth of trial that
Jesus experienced, they stUl raust enter and continue Avitli him in his
temptations (Luke xxii. 28).
2. But Jesus was not only assaUed by the poAvers of darkness from
Avithin, but by the poAvers of the Avorld and the degenerate church from
Avithout. And Judas also, which betrayed Mm, knew the place ; for
Jesus ofttimes resorted tMther with his disciples. The resemblance,
if not analogy, between the transaction which took place m the
garden of Gethsemane to that which is recorded to have taken place

Chap, XVIII,] ST. JOHN. 425
in the garden of Eden, may be further traced in this particular. Eden
had been the scene of primeval man's delight, as weU as of his temp
tation and fall ; Gethsemane was a place whither Jesus often resorted
Avitli his disciples, and Avhere, in its peaceful retirement, they took
sweet counsel together (Psa. Iv). But while under the shade of its
olive trees, the disciples Avere listening with rapt attention to the voice
of one far surpassing in wisdom and innocence the Adam of the prim
eval paradise, the serpent was lurking there, desiring to Avork a greater
ruin than that which he had effected in Eden ; for had Jesus been
betrayed into sin, instead of into the hands of his enemies, mankind
would truly have fallen, and fallen irretrievably with him in his trans
gression, since, unless Jesus had maintained his integrity, no flesh
could have been saved. Among tbe disciples Avho resorted with
Jesus to the garden AA'as Judas, the type, if not the impersonation, of
that very principle of human nature by which the fall of man had been
accomplished. Like the serpent of the tree of knoAvledge, Judas was
the betrayer of innocence. The old serpent, Avhich is the devil, and
Satan, found in Mm a suitable instrument through which to attempt
the frustration of the Saviour's purpose, and prevent the completion of
his work of rederaption, Avhich consisted in the subjugation of the
powers of heU.
3. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the
chief priesfs and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns, and torches, and
weapons. Judas was at this tirae acting as an emissary ofthe priesthood,
to whom he had sold himself. Cupidity, which had been his besetting
sin, now prompted himto commit the great crime. His case, individually
considered, is no doubt intended as a warning, and should induce us to
"beware of covetousness," avarice being the root of all evil. Avarice,
which is the love of money for its oAvn sake, without respect to the use for
which alone it is worthy of regard, corresponds to the love of knowledge
for its own sake, AA'ithout respect to the use for Avliich alone it is Avorthy
of regard. People of this character were represented by Judas, who
therefore carried the bag containing the money, and Avas a thief, the
bag, as Ave have seen, being the memory, where the ca'U lay up their
knowledge, by claiming Avhich as their own, and using it for their oavu
ends, they become spiritual thieves. The pieces of silver, too, for
Avhich Judas betrayed Jesus, represented the knowledge of spiritual
truth which the evil covet, and for the sake of possessing which they
betraj' the tmth itself into the hands of its enemies. To effect its
betrayal they do what Judas did Avhen he received from the cMef
priests and Pharisees a band of men and officers, they draw into

42 G .ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIII
alliance Avith them the powers of' an evil AvorlJ and of a perverted
church, and make themselves the instruments of accomplishing their
selfish ends. Tbe lanterns ami torches which Judas and bis band used
to light them on their way, and discover the object of their search, are
the false lights of the natural man, employed in the night of the church,
to enable men to do their Avorks of darkness ; and the Aveapons Avith
Avhich they were armed are the false principles that are ready to be
used against the tmth, in order to bring it under the dominion of
evil. 4. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him,
went forth, and said unto them. Whom seek ye ? Jesus acted differently
toAA-ards his enemies now from Avhat he did on some previous occasions,
when he escaped out of their hands (chap. x. 39). His hour was now
come, and he yielded himself up as a lamb to the slaughter. The
Lord's conduct on this occasion, as on all others throughout the whole
of the dreadful scene Avhich now begins to be enacted, displays the
beauty and sublimity of his character even more than his heavenly
teaching and his beneficent Avorks. He, it is true, kncAv all that was
to happen, even to the passion of the cross, aud was so far prepared
for the trial. The outward indignities and bodily pains Avhich Avere
to be inflicted on him Avere, hoAvever, but a small part of Avhat he had
to suffer. The inward temptations, which he had still to endure, were
immeasurably more afflictive than the agony of crucifixion. Yet, Avith
all these before him, Jesus, while possessed of the power to defeat or
destroy his enemies, calmly yields himself into the hands of those sent
to take him. AVhile we reverence this calm submission ou the part
of our Lord, we should not forget that he Avas our example in his
sufferings as weU as in his actiA-e life. The scene which is presented
in this narrative, has, hoAvever, a deeper than the literal signification,
AA'hich Ave Avill do Avell to consider. That scene, Avhich Avas acted
before the eyes of angels and men, so many centuries ago, in this outer
world, is acted over again in the inner world of the human conscious
ness of every true disciple, ou the one hand, and of every apostate, on
the other. AVe have the new man and his representatives in the Lord
and his disciples, and the old man in Judas and his band. In Judas
we see the human selfhood in its true character, not simply as it
is m every one by birth, Avhen it slumbers in the shade of innocence,
but as it is Avlien it has come forth iu its strength, armed with all the
aids which the Avisdora and authority of the world can lend it. AVhen
we speak of the ucav man, Ave mean the ucav principles and charac
ter we acquire by regener.ation, Avhich are indeed a new nature avc

Chap, XVIIL] ST. JOHN. 427
receive from the Lord, Avhen, as tbe Divine Man, ho dwells in Us by
his loA'e and trutii ; aud by the old man we mean the old nature which
Ave inherit from our parents, but Avliioh we make our oavu Avhen we
adopt it in principile and practice. In those who are in the progress
of regeneration, both the old nature and the iioav are ahvays present,
and are frequently active ; and this part of the Gospel history exhibits
the final conflict betAveen them. In those who are being regenerated,
the UCAV nature is Avithin and the old is Avithout ; and the purpose of
the confiict is to determine Avhether the natural or the spiritual shall
rule. In all cases of spiritual conflict, it is the evU that assails the
good, AA-hile the good only defends itself But in the highest states
good does not cA-en resist evil. .Judas Avitli his band conies to take
Jesus ; they make the assault against him — the Good and Truth itself
.Jesus comes forth and asks Avhoni they seek. The divine Truth comes
forth from the internal into the external, Avliere the evil is, Avhence the
assault proceeds, aud where the conflict is to be endured ; and only
demands w-hat the evils and falsities seek, to aAvakeii reflection as to
what is the object of their hatred and pursuit. In this, as in all other
instances, Jesus, differently from all other men, acted out completelj'
his OAVU principles, as delivered in his teaching.
5, G. AA^heii Jesus asked the officers Avhoni they sought, Tliey
answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he.
And J-iidas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As suuv, then
as he hud said unto them, I am he, tliey went backward, and fell to
the ground. It has been remarked as a singular circumstance, that
the priests and Pharisees should have required tlie aid of a disciple fo
find aud apprehend Jesus. The reason was, that Judas undertook to
betray Jesus in the absence of the multitude, or Avithout tumult, Avhich
the rulers apprehended and dreaded (Luke xxii. 6). It is likely, too,
that the Pharisees AVere glad to accept the aid of a disciple, to prevent
the defeat Avhicli previous attempts to take the Lord had met Avith,
and Avhich, but for his own AviUingness to be taken, avouM have
attended the present, as is evident from the effect AvMch the simple
utterance of his first words had upon the soldiers. The soldiers were
heathens ; and feeling no interest in Jewish questions, they kucAv not
Jesus, except by name, as given by those who sent them. They kncAv
that the person Avhom they Avere sent to seize AVas named Jesus of
Nazareth, but personaUy they kncAv him not. The natural rationality
which they represented is simUarly circumstanced — it knoAvs and
knoAvs not the truth. Jesus himself reveals it, and reveals himself in
it, as be said to the soldiers, " I am he." But AA'hen natural reason is

428 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
under the influence of evil, such a revelation does not produce the
same effect upon it as AA'hen under the influence (ff good. "Judas
Avhich betrayed him stood with them." But although the revealed
connection between the name and the Being does not spiritualize the
reason, Avhile doing this Avork of evil, it overaAves and paralyzes it; like
as the soldiers, Avhen Jesus uttered the words, "I am he," went back-
Avard and fell to the ground. There can be no doubt of the powerful
influence AA'hich the presence of the Lord had on minds of a certain
class, or iu a certain state. The soldiers were not actuated by any
feeUng of enmity against Jesus as the Messiah ; they Avere simply, as
Ave may suppose, indifferent to the question, even if they kneAv it.
Such being the case, they could be brought under the poAver of the
divine sphere Avhich proceeded from Jesus, and be struck as Avith
lightning by it. Considered spiritually, the effect of the inffux of good
and tmth from the internal into evils and errors in the external is here
described. To go backAvard is to recede from the Lord and from belief
in his Word, and especially from belief in him as the Word made
flesh. Those Avho forsake the Lord are said to go backward (Jer. xv. 6),
and to go baclcAvard and not forAA'ard (ib. vii. 24), While to go back
Avard is to recede frora the truth, to fall to the ground is to decline
from good, and thus to become earthly.
7. But the Lord asks them again, 'Wliom seek ye ? And again they
answer, Jesus of Nazareth. Repetition, in the AVord, expresses repeated
action in the mind, when that Avbich takes place in the avUI is re-
jieated in the understanding, or Avliat is done in the internal is done
afterAvards in the external. When the same question, repeated, re
ceives the same an.swer, it is a sign that the mind is confirmed in the
object which the reply expresses. The band sought Jesus of Nazareth,
against Avhom they had no personal enmity ; but those for whom they
acted sought hira for his destruction, and this they did with heart and
raind. This was the confirmed purpose both of Judas, and of the chief
priests and Pharisees who sent the band ; and is expressed in the
words of their instruments. Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord as to the
divine humanity, especially as to the divine natural, for the sake of
putting on Avhich he came into the world. Against this the world'
and the worldly jtrinciple are at enmity ; and it can only be glorified
in us, as it once was glorified in the person of the Lord, after severe
trial and temptation,
8, 9. Jesus ansioered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore
ye seek me, let these go their way : that the saying might he fulfilled
which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

Chap. :S.WnL] ST. JOHN. 429
Taken m their natural historical sense, these AVords seem to intimate
that the Lord's object in asking this question, aud pressing the soldiers
for an answer, Avas to induce them to take him only, leaving his dis
ciples to depart ; and that this was for the fulfilment of his oavu
Avords, that none of them might be lost. It may be admitted that
this Avas the hteral fulfilment of his saying. But we cannot suppose
that this is all the meaning that his words contain. Let us en
deavour to ascertain Avhat, in tiie present case, their further meaning
is. There is here an exemplification of the truth, that the Lord gave
himself for us. He was AvilUug to submit to be taken, but he desired
that his disciples should be aUowed to go free. He, as the shepherd,
AA'as to be smitten; the sheep were only to be scattered, not lost.
Had the disciples been taken at the time the Lord Avas apprehended,
theh faith Avould have faded them. Their time Avas not yet come.
Not until the Lord had passed through his great trial could they pass
tMough theh lesser trials; not till he had been tempted could he
succour them m their temptations; not tUl he had passed through
death could he support them in their passage from death unto life.
The disciples, as given to Jesus by the Father, represent those who
have beeu drawn by the Lord's love to his truth ; but iu their present
state they have not been led by his tmth to Ms love. This is a
subject -we have already considered, but it desiirves to be further ex-
plamed. Love, as an unknown mfluence, draws us to the trutii ; and
then the truth, as an enlightened guide, leads us to love, as a known
poAver. As in the chUdhood of our natural life we are draAvn by the
love of knoAving to the acquirement of knoAvledge, aud are afterwards
led by knowledge to the attainment of love as a ruling principle ; so,
in the chUdhood of our spiritual life, the Lord draws us by the secret
influence of Ms love to the acquhement of his Avisdom, that he may-
lead us by his wisdom to the conscious possession of his love. In this
way does God's love lead us by wisdom to love God. For Ave cannot
loA'e God tiU Ave knoAv him and know Avhat is meant by loving hira.
This is the truth which the Lord teaches when he says that none can
come to the Son but those whom the Father draAvs, and that none can
come to the Father but those whom the Son leads. His disciples had
been thus drawn to him, and Avere, therefore, those whom the Father
has given him. At the time Jesus was betrayed into the hands of his
enemies, his disciples, though they had been drawn aud given to him
by the Father, had not yet been led to the Father by Mm. Not tUl
Jesus had gone to the Father could his disciples go. Not tiU the Son
was uMted to the Father could the disciples be united to the Father

430 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
through the Son. As the Son could not be united to the Father, till
he endured the passion of the cross, and laid doAvn the life of his fraU
humanity : neither could the disciples, till they were prepared to lay
down the life of their selfhood. Hoav unprepared they uoav Avere,
their forsaking the Lord in his trial abundantly testifies. AVhen Jesus
said, " If ye seek me, let these go their Avay," he had regard to the
state of his disciples, as being unfit to endure such a trial as that
Avhich he himself Avas about to undergo. The disciples, besides being
spoken of personally, are mentioned in this and in other places as re
presenting the church. When the humanity Avas smitten, the church
Avas scattered ; but it Avas provided that the principles should not be
lost. Nay, as the Lord's crucifixion in weakness Avas the means of his
resurrection in poAver ; so the dispersion of the apiostles was the means
of their confirmation in the faith and of their unity. AA''hen the Lord
Avas fidly glorified, his Divine Humanity became fuUy and truly the
rock on which his church Avas buUt, and against Avhich the gates of
hell could not prevail. Being then the Fhst and the Last, all mter-
niediate things and beings could be brought into and preserved in
order, and be held together in unity.
10. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and smote the high
¦priest's servant, and cut off' his right ear. The servunt's name was
Mulchus. This incident is recorded in Matt. xxvi. 51, where it is
explained. Peter represents those Avho are iu faith ; his SAVord was a
symbol of truth ; but the truth used falsely is turned into Avhat is
false. The cutting off of the ear of the high priest's servant AA'as a
sign that, in those last days of the church, the perceptive faculty was
destroyed, and AAith it aU spiritual hearing and obedience. The oMy
peculiarity of John's account is the introduction of the servant's name.
Malchus is generally understood to be derived from the HebreAv
melech, a king, wMch in the genume sense siguMes truth, m the
opposite sense, falsity. Noaa', a king in relation to a priest, and a
servant to a Lord, signify truth iu relation to good, and falsity in
relation to evil ; aud this last was, no doubt, the representatiA'e char
acter of Malchus. The servants of the high priest do not mdeed mean
p)rmciples in themselves false, but natural truths, or knoAvledges, under
the dominion and direction of evU : for such truths may be made ser
viceable to evU as well as to good. And as the high priest was
opposed to the Lord, so the priest's servants Avere opposed to the Lord's
servants. AVe kiioAV that hi human interpretations of the Word, one
truth can be opposed to another, especiaUy may the apparent truths
of the Word be opposed to its genuine truths.

Chap. XVIIL] ST. JOHN. 431
11. Tlien said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath. :
the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ? The
principxle on AvMch the Lord reproved Peter for smiting the high
priest's servant, Avas that AvMch he laid down for the church, aud
Avhich he himself ahvays exemplified, " resist not evU." This is the
principle of the celestial angels and of celestial men. They never
assault the Avicked or even resist evU. And as evU can never act
agamst us to our injm-y, except so far as Ave have evil in ourselves,
therefore evU cannot do htxrm to goodness except by means of evil.
This was the case even with the Lord himself The evil Avhich he
inherited from the mother Avas the ground of his temptations. Evil
men and evU spirits only acted upon him through these. And their
assaults were the means by which these evils were overcome and re
moved. Hence our Lord said to Peter, " The cup which my Father
hath given me, shall I not drink it ? " The cup is a common figure
for that which the cup contains. In Scrip tm-e it is mentioned both
in a good aud bad sense. AVe read both of the cup of salvation (Psa.
cxvi. 13), aud of the cup of trembling, AA'hich is the cup ofthe Lord's
fury (Isa. h. 17). This is the cup Avliich Jesus says Ms Father had
given Mm to drink. Those who do not know the distmction betAveen
genume and apparent truth, as it exists in the Word, believe that God
pours out Ms wrath and displeasure upon men and nations, in judg
ments for theh sins. And as mankind are spoken of as subject to
wrath, on account of their evil state and sinful conduct, it is believed
that Jesus endured the Avliole weight of Divine Avrath, Avhich Avas due
to men for their sms. This is understood to be the cup Aihich the
.Father had given him to drink, and Avhich he AvilUngly dranlc, even to
the last dregs. These dark and unworthy views are now graduaUy
passing aAvay, and at no very distant time AviU entirely disappear.
Aleu wUl come to see, what they may eA-en now understand, that there
is no wrath or fury m God, that he is Love in its essence, aud that he
desires to save aU, an'd does save aU who come to him. The language of
Scripture, on Avhich such opiiuoiis rest, is the language of appearances,
God appears to every one iu accordance with his state. " AVitli the
mercUul thou -wUt sheAV thyself merciful ; and Avith the upright man
thou AvUt sheAv thyself upright. With the pure thou Avilt shew thy
self pure ; and with the froAvard thou AA'Ut shew thyself unsavoury ''
(2 Sam. xxU. 26, 27). The Lord is described and expresses himself
in the Word as he appears to men to be. The notion that God in
flicted upon Jesus the punishment he otherwise would have inflicted
on men themselves for theh sins, is part of the theory that God's

432 ST, JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
government is maintained by means of rcAvards and punishments.
Obedience to the Divine laws certainly produces happiness, and dis
obedience to them produces misery. But this does not arise from God
rcAA'arding the obedient and punishing the disobedient, but from the fact,
that goodness is its OAvn reward, because God is in it, and that evU is
its OAvii punishment, because God is not in it. Harmony and conjunc
tion Avith God produce happiness, disharmony and disjunction from
God produce misery. It was not, therefore, to endure Divine wrath
that the Lord was manifest in the flesM He did indeed suffer as no
mau ever suffered ; but his sufferings were not from the Avrath of God
but from the wrath of the devU. The cup that he drank Avas the cup
of temptation which he endured, not to appease the Avrath of God, but
to overcome the poAver of the devU. The cup of suffering is said by
the Lord to have been given him by the Father, m the same sense and
for the same end, thixt afflictions are given to the righteous, for their
purification, and for perfecting them m holiness. Afflictions are de
clared in the Scriptures to be an evidence of God's love. " As many
as I love I rebuke and chasten" (Rev. m. 19), The cup wMch the
Father gave to the Son was the cup of affliction which the Lord re
ceived from his oavu Divine Love, — not that his sufferings came from
his love, but that Ms love prompted him to endure them, and there
fore sustained him under them,
12. Then the band, and the captcdn, and officers of the Jews, took
Jesus, and. bound Mm. What the Jews did to Jesus represented Avhat
the JcAvish church had done to the Word. The series of acts now
recorded are similar to those in MatthcAV and the other gospels. The
band and their leaders taking Jesus and binding him, is expressive of
all falsities derived from evU in the church takmg and binding the
divine truths of the Word. These are taken and bound when they
are brought under the power of their opposite errors, and deprived of
all their freedom of action, in reproving sin and teaching righteousness,
13, 14. When bound, they led him away fo Annus first : for he ¦wus
futher-inlaw to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that sume year.
Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jeics, that it was ex
pedient that one man should die for the -people. John is the only one
of the four evangelists Avho mentions the Lord's being led to Annas.
The reason of this, no doubt, is, that John treats of more interior states
of the church than the other evangelists : and the father-in-law of the
high priest represents a more interior principle than the high priest
himself Considered as father-in-law and sou-in-laAv, Annas and Cai
aphas represent the church in respect to the wUl and the understand-

Chap. XVIIL] S'T JOHN. 433
ing. Had they been the true priests of a true church, they Avould
have represented the Avill and understanding of good, of which the
priesthood was the type. But being the evil priests of a corrupt
church, they represented the will and the understanding of evil. It
is not necessary to suppose that, compared Avith others and in regard
to their tirae, they Avere morally depraved. AVe speak of them as the
enemies of Christ and of Christianity, and of the share they had in
the Lord's condemnation, Avhich, as it was unjust and merciless, indi
cates the character of those who were the chief agents in obtaining it.
It is not perhaps safe to afifirm confidently respecting the spiritual
meaning of all Bible characters frora the signification of their names,
even when their literal meaning can be ascertained. But if Annas
means merciful and Caiaphas a rock, their names answer to their
representative character, so far as tMs relates to the distinctive nature
of the wiU and the understanding ; and, m relation to the sacretl
office they held, expresses what they should have been, though the
opposite of what they were. They may thus be seen to have the
same relation to each other that John and Peter have. And in these
two disciples, when introduced into the palace of the high priest,
where Jesus is, we may see the two prie-sts on the one side, and the
two most eminent disciples on the other — the moral and inteUectual
powers, as they are when opposed to, and as they are when in har
mony -with, the Truth as it is in .Jesus. The distinctive character of
Annas and Caiaphas, considered representatively, appears especially
from what is related of them in regard to these proceedings. Jesus is
questioned by Annas about his doctrine and his disciples, and by Mm
sent bound to Caiaphas, Avhose inteUectual character is indicated 'hj
the prophecy which he uttered, that it was expedient that one man
slioMd die for the people, and by the active part he took in bringing
about the accomplishment of his own prediction, Matthew, who
mentions oMy Caiaphas, speaks only of Peter as having foUowed
Jesus mto the palace of the high priest ; while John, who speaks of
both Annas and Caiaphas, mentions the entrance of two of the Lord's
disciples, he himself being one of them. Thus, when regarded
spiritually, each account presents that contrast which properly be
longs to tbe two gospels, as describing events in a less and more perfect
development of the religious state. In regard to John's account,
accordmg to which Jesus was led away to Annas first, it represents
that the Lord's divine goodness, which is meant when he is named
Jesus, was opposed in the church, first, not only in time but as to
state, by evU in the will, and then, secondarily, by evil in the under-
2 E

434 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
standing. Caiaphas, to AA-hom he Avas sent, gave counsel to the Jcavs,
that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. Some
consider this as an oracular announcement, to induce the people to
favour the plan of the priesthood for putting Jesus to death. It is
rather to be regarded as a prediction be uttered in virtue of his
jiriestly office, which, under the Israelitish dispensation, gave, among
other supernatural gifts, the gift of prophecy. Such gifts did not
depend on the character of the person, but Avere annexed to him in
consequence of his office as high priest. But a priest could act in
agreement with his own personal character, even while he could speak
frora the prophetic spirit ; for a man " may have the gift of prophecy,
aud understand all mj'steries, and all knoAvledge, and yet be as sound
ing brass or a tinkling cymbal."
15. This portion of the sacred history, which now comes to be
considered, gives an account of what took jilace in the palace of the
high priest, not before Caiaphas, but Annas. This relation differs
very considerably iu some respects from the account of the
other evangelists. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did
another disciple. That disciple was known unto the high priest, anel
went in with Jesus into fhe pcdace of the high priest. John does not
speak of himself by name, but, naming Peter, he caUs himself another
disciple. Indeed, this " other disciple," in the gospel wMch he AA'rote,
never speaks of himself by his proper uame. This is considered
to have arisen frora Ms modestj'. The grace of love or charity,
Avliich John represented, is the farthest removed from self-seeking : it
" vaunteth not itself is not puffed up." But there is another reason
for John's suppressing his name. Name is expressive of quality, and
of that which reveals it. Love does not itself reveal its own quality.
Love, in itself, as it is in the avUI, is nameless. It only acquires
a quality and a name when it descends iuto the understanding, and
puts on the form of wisdom, or when, as affection, it clothes itself
with thought. Simon Peter and John followed Jesus. All the
disciples at first forsook him, and fled ; but these two returned, and
foUoAved him to the palace of the high priest, not opeMy, but as timid
though anxious friends. The Lord was stiU the object of love and
faith among his disciples, but these graces were as yet feeble and
unconfirmed, because not yet completely severed from the loves of self
and the Avorld. Jesus Avas thus folloAved by the tAvo disciples AA'ho
seem to have occupied the highest position among their brethren, and
Avho had the highest representative character, bemg the types of faith
and love. The conduct of these two disciples on this trying occasion

Chap, XVIIL] ST. JOHN. 43.'^
is descriptive of the state of faith and love, as they existed among the
disciples generally ; and it was also prophetic of the condition in which
these two esseutial graces of religion would be found at the end of the
church. Of the tAvo graces AA'hich Peter and John represented, love
was the raore firm aud constant, as Ave learn from the general conduct of
John, and from his following the Lord into the palace itself of the high
priest. " That disciple was knoAvn unto the high priest." We have
remarked, that he AA'ho is here caUed the high priest Avas Annas.
Although he does not exhibit so much enmity to Jesus as Caiaphas
displays, Ave are by no means to regard him as friendly to the Saviour,
although one of his disciples was personally known to him ; and we
find Annas at the head of the priesthood, in their combined effort to
suppress Christianity, soon after the death of our Lord (Acts iv. 6).
We are, however, to reflect that a distinction is to be made between
the man and the priest, between the functionary and the function.
The office was sacred even when a profane person was invested with
it ; and in the Word, it is the office and the function that we have
generaUy to attend to ; for it was this which was especiaUy repre
sentative. This we are to regard m the present instance of John
being known to the high priest. It has been considered as somewhat
singular that a humble follower of Jesus should be known to the high
priest. What may have been the circumstances in AvMob this know
ledge and friendly relation originated, it is not necessary for us to
imagine : it is their spiritual meaning which makes thera interesting
to us. John represented the prmciple of love or goodness, and this
was also represented by the priestly office. That disciple being known
to the high priest shows representatively that some affinity and con
nection existed between the good of the Christian and the good of the
Jewish church, as represented by John and the high priest. Yet
as John is not spoken of in this verse, except as a disciple, we are to.
infer that the true nature of the good he represented was unperceived,.
although the principle itself was known. In every church some
remnant of good is preserved. Faith may utterly fail, but love is,
never entirely quenched. If this were to take place, no new church,
could ever rise out of the ashes of the old. The Lord promised that
amid the falling aAvay which should precede and mark the end of the
dispensation he established, something of this vital element of the
church should be preserved, even to the thne of his Second Coming.
And this promise was given in symbolic language in reference to John
Mmself, ' when the Lorti said to Peter respecting John, " If I will that
he tarry tUl I come, what is that to thee ?" The disciples -understood

436 ,ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
this to mean that the disciple should not die. And spiritually under
stood they were right ; for love never dies. Some spark of it is pre
served in every church, and even in every soul, whUe men live in the
world. Its utter extinction Avould be utter min, an end without the
possibility of a new beginning. Even in the Jewish church there was
some very small remnant of good saved. This formed the ground of
disciplesMp in those who acknowledged and followed tbe Lord. It
formed also the one point of contact between the Christian and the
Jewish church ; aud it forms the point of contact between the ucav
church and the old iu our own day. The good of the old helps the
good of the neAV, as the earth helped tbe Avonian, when persecuted hy
the dragon. HoAvcver unjustly the Truth may be accused at the bar
of a corrupt church, there is still sufficient good left to serve as the
means of introducing a higher good, as John by Ms means entered
with Jesus mto the palace of the high priest.
16. But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other
disciple, which wus known unto the high priest, und spuke unto her that
kept the door, und brought in Peter. AVhile something of good and
love entered the church, truth and faith stood at the door without.
Yet truth is mtroduced by good, and faith by love, and tMs by the
influence of good and love upon the affections, sigMfied by her that
kept the door. But although Peter was introduced, he was not known
to the high priest ; he was mdeed afterwards recognised by the damsel
and some of the other serA'ants, but only as a disciple, involved in the
supposed criminality of his Master.
17. The affection, by the influence of which faith is admitted into
the church and into the mind, exercises a scrutiny as to the origin and
object of that faith. Then suifh the damsel that kept the door unto
Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples ? He saith, I am
not. The predicted trial of Peter's faith noAv commences, and at the
very beginning fails. In this, as in sorae other instances, Peter repre
sented faith, such as it then existed in the church. But to understand
the subject rightly, we raust consider that Peter's ccinduct represented
the character of faith as it would be at the end of the first CMistian
¦church, the state of which is described by the Lord Avhen he said,
" When the Son of man cometh shall he find faith in the earth ?" The
history of Peter on this occasion is the history of the faith of the
church ; it is a historical prediction, representatively teaching, that at
the end of the church, when the ruling loA'e of self and the Avoiid,
which prevails among men, opposes itself to the Lord as essential love
and truth, faith faUs and denies Him who is its Origin and Object.

Chap. XVIIL] ST. JOHN. 437
Peter ansAvers the charge of the damsel, that he Avas one of the disciples
of Jesus, by a simple but positive denial. We know from the other
gospels that on the three different occasions on Avliich he Avas recog
nised and accused of being a disciple of Jesus, he denied, and each
succeeding time Avith inereLiscd vehemence. AVitli Avhat feehng his
first denial of the truth Avas uttered Ave are not told ; but Ave may infer
that there Avas some compunction iu the commission of so daring a sin.
He had made the first departure from the trutii, and had it been the
only one, it Avould haA'e remained as a solemn Avarniug to all other
members of the church of Jesus Christ. As the first denial, it teaches
us that the first step in sin, and in this case, the sin of insincerity, is
to be carefully avoided, since another step is more easy and likely to
foUow. This may be considered as au act of the Avill, and one Avhich, as
Ave find, gathers strength, as it becomes secondarily au act of the under
standmg, and finaUy of the life.
18. And the servants and officers stood there, who had mude a fire
of coeds; (for it was cold;) caid they warmed themselves: and Peter
stood with ihem, and warmed himself The servants and officers re
presented the principles of the church and of its merabers, Avhioh are
subordinate to the ruling love, as these servants were to the high priest.
The cold which invades the church at the time of its end, is its state
when the warmth of genuine love has departed, or Avhen the love of
the many waxe-B cold. Then the members of the church, when its surt
has set, and left it exposed to the cold as Avell as the darkness of night,,
kmdle a fire of coals from their oavu natural loA'es, and Avarm them
selves; aud even faith itself, Avhich has no life but from love, derives
its Avarrath from the fire Avhich the lusts and appetites of the natural
mind have kindled. The servants of the high priest had kiniUed a
fire, and a servant of Jesus Avarmed himself at it. Fire is a common
and well understood emblem of love. Sacred fire comes from heaven,
and is an emblem of the holy love Avhich the Lord inspires into the
contrite heart. The fire which man kindles is symbolical of the love
Avhich is earthly in its origin aud character. The idolater is repre
sented as burning part of the Avood of Avhich he makes his image im
the fire ; and " he warmeth himself, and saith. Aha, I am warm, I
have seen the fire" (Isa. xliv. 16). He that walketh iu darkness and
hath no light is exhorted to trust in the name of the Lord and to stay
upon his God. But this warning and threatening are added : " Behold
all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about Avitli .sparks :•
walk in the light of your Me, and in the sparks that ye have kmdleJ.
This shall ye have of mine hand ; ye shall he down m sorrow " (Isa.

438 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
1. 10). AVhen one of the faithful seeks warmth at the fire Avhich man
has kindled, or seeks to draAv from the natural love of the world or of
self the Avarmth Avhich he should find in love to the Lord and to tlio
neighbour, it is a sign that he has turned aAvay from the Lord of life
and Ught to the life and light of his oavu love and intelligence.
19. While Peter Avarmed himself Avith the servants and officers at
the fire, the high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and of his
doctrine. These questions and the Lord's ansAver to them are entirely
different from those recorded m Matthew (x.xvi. 62, 63), and afford
countenance to the opinion aheady noticed, that this examination of
Jesus took place before Annas, who was not theu iu office, although,
in conformity Avitli custom, he is called the high priest ; and Avho had
no active share, judicially, in his condemnation. This inquiry about
the Lord's disciples and his doctrine, or teaching, is assumed to have
been intended to draAV answers from him that might form the grounds
of accusation ; and the Lord's answer seems to favour this opinion.
But there is nothing related of this interrogator, as of Caiaphas, con
demning Jesus out of his oavu mouth. It may be, therefore, that
Annas was the high priest to whora John was knoAvii. As to question
ing Jesus about his doctrine : the Lord is doctrine itself, for the whole
of doctrme proceeds from Mm and relates to him ; and Ms disciples
are those who receive his doctrine, and live according to it. AU the
doctrines of the AVord refer to tAvo things, comprehended in the
tAvo great commandments — to love the Lord above aU things, and our
neighbour as ourselves. These are the Lord's doctrines, and those who
live according to them are his disciples. The evU do mdeed inquire
into these, and desire to know what the Word teaches respecting them,
not for tbe purpose of knowmg, that they may honour them, but
either that they may gratify their curiosity, or fiud m them the means
of theh condemnation. Whether the high priest regarded Jesus as
Herod regarded John the Baptist we cannot say.
20, 21. Jesus does not tell of his doctrine, but refers the high priest
to those of his own people who had heard him teach. Jesus answered
Mm, I spake openly to the world: I ever taught in the synagogue, and
in the temple, whither the Jews always resort ; and in secret liave I
said nothing. Why askest thou me ? ask them which heard me, what
I have said unto them : behold, they know what I said. Those who
for unworthy ends interrogate the Word do not receive the ansAver they
•deshe from the Word itself: it comes to them through theh owu
thoughts and feelmgs. Jesus spake opeMy, or fearlessly, to the world.
The church is the general recipient of the Lord's truth ; and the lessons

Chap. XA'IIL] ST. JOHN. 439
which he teaches in his AVord come from the temple of his divine
humamty and from the doctrine which relates to it, whither those who
are Jcavs in name or in reality resort for Avorship and instruction. In
secret he said nothing. Jesus taught his disciples privately ; but what
he said apart AA'as uot a secret doctrine Avhich he concealed from the
multitude, but rather an inner sense of Avhat he had publicly taught,
Avliich the disciples alone were prepared to understand. To them it
was given to kiioAv the mysteries of the kingdom ; but to others in
parables. AVhat he taught to the multitude he expounded to the dis
ciples. Therefore he demanded of the high priest, " Why askest thou
me? Ask them which heard me." To see the force of this reply we
must remember that the high priest wished to know AA'hat doctrines
Jesus had taught the people. To the people, therefore, Jesus referred
him. The general doctrines of the AVord are taught to all who are
Avithin the church ; particular teaching, or enlightenment, is communi
cable to those only Avho practise the truth they know. " He Avho
doeth truth cometh to the light." For this reason our Lord often re
fused to teach Avhat men were anxious to hear, but Avhat he knew they
were unwilling to believe or practise.
22. And when he hud thus spjoken, one of the officers whicli stood by
struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the
high piriest so ? One reason why the Lord refused to answer the high
priest and some others who asked him questions, was to prevent pro
fanation. He m many instances hides the truths of his kingdora from
the wise and prudent and reveals them unto babes. The disposition
to profane and blaspheme the truth was shown by the conduct of the
officer of the high priest, for to smite is to destroy. Aud truth is
destroyed when men do violence to it, because it testifies agamst them.
Such violence Avas represented by the officer smiting our blessed Lord
with a rod (as tMs may more strictly be rendered) a rod signifying the
false principle proceedmg from evil.
23. Jesus answered him. If I have spioken evil, bear witness of tlie
evil ; but if well, why smitest thou me ? That Avhich our Lord gave as
a test to judge of and act towards himself, is also a test by which his
word is to be tried. The teacMng of the Word is open to just judg
ment. H it speaks or teaches evil, men may bear witness of the evU,
but if it teaches truth and righteousness, why shoMd it be smitten ? Yet
as the Lord was smitten, so his Word is smitten, because it reproves
evU, and refuses to gratUy the siMM or icUe curiosity of those who
please to consult it for their own ends.
24, Now Annas had sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

440 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIII.
Wo have already spoken of Annas and Caiaphas as representing the
voluntary and intellectual principles of the Jewish church, in their
relation, or rather opposition, to the Lord as essential goodness,
Avhich his name Jesus implies, both as revealed in Ms AVord, and as
luanifested iu him as the AVord made flesh. Annas sending Jesus to
Caiaphas describes representatively the opposition successively of both
the wUl and understanding to the divine goodness and truth. First,
aud essentiaUy, there is the opposition of the will, and then there is
the opposition of the understanding. Annas sent Jesus bound, to
represent that the divine AVord, as subjected to the Avill of the church,
Avas deprived of that freedom which is one of its eminent characteristics,
and that the divine wiU Avas subjected to the human Avill, wMch is
done Avlien the AVord only teaches Avhat the Avill of man is dis
posed to aUow it to teach. Tbe Lord bemg sent bound to Caiaphas
thus represents the A^^ord being subjected to the donUmon of the
human Avill, even before it is subnutted to be judged of by the
understanding. AA''hen tMs is the case, can Ave expect anything but
its condemnation?
25. And noAV comes another trial of faith, such as it is when the
Word is subjected to such treatment. And Simon Peter stood and
warmed himself. They said therefore unto him. Art ihou not also one
of his disciples? He denied it, and suid, I am nut. Peter stood and
warmed himself, fit emblem of faith when it derives its warmth from
self-love, from the Avoiid and not from heaven. Under the influence
of such love liOAv could the faith of the church do otherAA'ise than deny
the Lord? This Avas Peter's second denial, but another aud more
daring one follows.
26, 27, One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman
whose ear Peter cut off, saith. Did I not see thee in the garden with
Mm ? Peter then denied again, and immediutely the cock crew. The
consistency of Peter is now put to the severest test. The time and
place of his being seen Avith Jesus, as one of his disciples, are mentioned
to him, but a selfish fear prompts a ready and angry denial, confirming
Ms asseveration, hke the wicked, Avith a profane oath. How striking
au instance is this ofthe presence and poAver of man's naturM depravity,
even after he has entered sincerely on the regenerate lUe ! Hoav well
it proves the truth of the experience of one Avlio had himself been
tried : " W^lieu I woMd do good evU is present Avith me;" and of our
Lord's saying, "The, spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is Avcak."
The temptation of Peter did not proceed from the persons AA'ho accused
him. In times of sphitual trial evU spirits accuse, and hence Satan is

Chap. XA'IIL] ST. JOHN. 441
called the accuser of the brethren. But evil spiiits call forth the evils
that are in man, and so condemn him, and try to induce him to despair
of salvation. Here the servants do not accuse Peter of evil, but charge
him Avith being Avliat he really Avas, and Avith doing what he really did,
both of which Avere good and not evil. Yet good Avas evil in the esti
mation of the Jewish party, and to Peter it seemed to be evil hi the
present chcumstances ; the tmth Avas likely to entail upon him Avhat
seemed to him to be evU consequences. These servants of the high
priest represented, therefore, those knoAvledges Avhicli are possessed bA'
the natural man, Avhich can be used citlicr for a good or an evil purpose.
The servant ofthe high priest, Avho accused Peter the third time, Avas
kinsman to him whose ear that disciple had cut off. He thus repre
sented a principle akm to that Avliicli Malchus represented. The Lord
had reproved Peter for the act, and iioav he is accused by one related
to Mm to whom, in Ms hasty zeal, he had done the inj ury. " Did not I
see thee in the garden Avith Mm?" Minute as AveU as direct,
this question, which should have stricken him dumb, only seems tti
have deepened his denial. But what is meant by the form of their
accusation? To be in the garden Avitli Jesus is to be Avith him in his
temptations, to have communion and feUoAvship Avith him by internal
faith aud acknowledgment. But it Avas one of Peter's Aveaknesses that
he deprecated the cross of Chiist, as formerly for his Lord, so uoav for
MmseU. He was AvUling to be a disciple of the Lord in his prosperity,
but he was not yet Avilling to be a disciple of the Lord in his adversity.
He Avas not yet "wUling to be crucified with Christ, to suffer and to
die with him. But the crisis of his state had come. One moment he
daringly persisted in a presumptuous sin, the next he is humbled to
the dust in the deepest repentance. Hardly has he uttered his last
deMal when the cock crows. John does not record the effect Avhich
this predicted incident had upon Peter. AVe know from the other
gospels how sudden and deep vA'as the change which it produced. TMs
Avas not an essential change of character. It Avas a change such as
takes place at the crisis of a disease, when the balance trembles
betAA'een Ufe and death. The cock croAving was to Peter the daAvu of
a new day, the day of the Lord and of salvation.
28. We now come to another act in the terrible drama which was
acted by the enemies of the Saviour in the sight of angels and men.
Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment. Jesus
was first led to Annas, then to Caiaphas, and lastly to Pilate. Thus
was the Divine Truth opposed m will, understanding, and act. PUate
represented the civil power which gave effect to the spiritual. As

442 ST, JOHN, [Chap, XVIIL
Pilate, the Roman governor, who is here introduced, plays an impor
tant part in the scene which is now to be enacted, it may be useful to
inquire into the relative representative character which he and the
ruling poAvers among the Jcavs sustain. The Jcaa's, in a state of sub
jection to the Roman power, represent the church in subjection to the
world, or the spiritual principle in man in subjection to the natural
But the world and the natural principle which the Romans repre
sented were such as they are among the Gentiles, and thus among the
simple. There is a feature in the character of Pilate which has been
remarked by all commentators. He does not appear to have been
hostile but rather favourable to Jesus ; he found no fault in Mm (xix. 4),
he sought to release hira (ver. 12) ; he had the poAver to do so (ver, 10) ;
aud yet he gave him over to the Jews to be crucified (ver. 18) ; satisfy
ing his conscience by washing his hands, as a testification of his being
guiltless of shedding muocent blood. AVe see in him, what is often
observable in natural men, a want of principle. They may see what
is light, and have the disposition and the poAver to do it ; but their
action in the raatter is not determiuetl by principle, but by expediency.
Being ruled by natural motives, natural men, even Avhen not UI dis
posed, are liable to be led by the evil as easily as by the good ; for the
children of this world are wiser in their generation than the chUdreu
(ff light, and their persuasive poAver is greater than that of those who
have a higher light to guide them. PUate does not act from Ms own
judgment, AvMch Avas in favour of Jesus, but gives effect to the judg
ment of the Sanhedrim, Avhich Avas against Mm. AA^hen the Jews led
Jesus into the judgment haU it was early; and they themselves icerd
not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they
might eat the passover. The council at Avhich Jesus was tried by the
Jews was held during the night. And this deed of darkness, Uke the
night m Avhioh it was enacted, was a sign that the church Avas at an
end. Its Mght had come ; and the early daAvn of a neAV day had
commenced. That Avas not however a day of light and hope. It Avas
the darkest in the calendar of time — the day on AA'hich the Holy One
Avas crucified — a day in Avhicli the sun itself Avas darkened, in sym
pathy and correspondence Avith the darkening of the Sun of righteous
ness, in the last temptation of the Son of man, during the passion of
the cross. AVhile the Jcavs Avere committing the great moral crime of
handing an innocent one over to the Roman governor to be condemned,
they Avere yet so scrupulously observant of ceremonial rMes, that they
would not themselves enter the judgment hall, lest they should be
defiled and prevented from eating the passover. What could more

Chap. XVIIL] ST. JOHN. 443
thoroughly indicate the end of the church ? The church is consum
mated when there is sanctity without and unholiness within ; AA'hen,
like the tombs of the prophets, it is outAvardly beautiful but iiiAvardly
corrupt, full of dead men's bones aud of all corruption.
29. As the Jcaa's Avould not go iu to Pilate, Plate then went out
unto them. Pilate suffers MmseU to be draAvn out of hie oavu house by
the Jews, Avhich is to go out of his oavu state, and place himself in
theirs. Having thus yielded himself up to their influence, he asks
them, What accusation bring ye against this man ? It is as if the
judgment should leave its seat in the understanding, Avhere reason
shoMd preside, and appeal to the will, where passion rules, for the
purpose of hearing what it can lay to the charge of innocence.
30. They ansioered and said ¦unto him. If tie were not a mulefuctor,
we would not huve delivered him up unto thee. This is just such an
accusation as passion and prejudice Avould urge. Jesus is accused of
being a malefactor, but no evidence is offeied in support of the charge.
It is, hoAvever, to be understood that the Jews had aheady tried Jesus
and pronounced him to be worthy of death. But havhig no executive
power, thej' apply to the Roman governor, to confirm and carry out
the sentence they had pronounced. They therefore thought it suffi
cient to state that he Avas a criminal, Avithout even mentioning Ms
crime, or offering any testimony in support of it, a proceeding which
is clearly enough indicative of an act of the will, and of one under
the influence of evil and malevolence.
31, 32. The Roman governor, considering that Jesus was accused
of some breach of the Jewish laAv, suid unto them, Tuke -ye him, and
judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him.
It is not luvjfid for us to put uny mun to death : tliat the saying of
Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he
should die. The Jews had been deprived of the power of lawfully
putting any one to death a very short time before the Lord was cruci
fied. It is probable, thenffore, that the saying of Jesus, signifying Avhat
death he woMd die, was uttered before the Jcavs were deprived of the
poAver of life and death. Had Jesus been put to death by the Jcavs
it would have been by stoning ; it was because he was executed by the
Romans that it was done by crucifixion, and Jesus had foretold that
he should be delivered to the GentUes to be mocked and scourged
aud crucified. The Roraans were Gentiles, and by them the prediction
of the Lord Avas fulfilled. It Avas fulfilled in a Avay that did not re
flect so much discredit on them as it did upon the Je-ws. The Jews
had the avUI, the Romans had the power ; and the wiU of the one

444 SI. JOHN. [Chap. XVIII.
acting by the power of the other effected Satan's purpose of slaying
one Avhose kingdom Avas not of this Avoiid, and Avhose claims Avere
opposed, not to Caesar's but to Satan's dominion. There Avas no doubt a
providential purpose in the circumstance of the Lord's being " delivered
into the hands of the GentUes, to mock, and to scourge and to crucify."
The Gentiles had a share, as they had an interest, in his death. He
died for aU men, both Jcavs and Gentiles. And he died for aU, because
all men Avero dead in trespasses and sins. The Jcavs Avere sinners in
one Avay, the GentUes in another. The Jews sinned against him directly,
tbe Gentiles sinned against hhn mdirectly. The Jcavs AviUed his death,
the GentUes effected it. We find in this, as in every similar instance,
that the hostility of the Gentiles to the truth, as re\-ealed or mani
fested, is not so much a hostility to the truth itself, as a hostUity to it
as repicseiited or reflected by those Avho claim its peculiar or exclusive
possession. Those Avho are out of tire church judge of the truth by
the conduct of those Avho are Avithin it. Those Avho have the AVord,
but AvaUv uot accorcUng to its teachings, do much to cause others to
judge unfavourably of the truth, and to smite and mock, and scourge
and crucify it.
33. AVheu those of the Gentile class and character return agam into
their oavu state they are disposed to hoar something respecting the
truth from the Truth itseU. This Avas rep)resented by what is now
recorded of the Roman governor. Then Pilufe entered -info the judg
ment-halt again, and culled Jesus, und said unto him. Art thou the
King of the Jews? Pilate's entering again iuto the judgment-haU is
expressive of the mind rething into or Avithin itself, especiaUy mto
the inteUectual faculty, Avliere reasons are adduced aud judgments are
formed. His caUing Jesus unto him describes the state of the nund
Avhen the Trutii itself is caUed to the bar of human judgment, but
Avith the view of receiving from it that evidence on Avhieh a judgment
respecting it raay be formed. The question Avhich PUate asks Jesus
is, " Art thou the King of the Jcavs ? " In the AA'"ord the Lord is
caUed a king as the rMer of his kingdom, Avhich consists of heaven
and the church. There are, hoAvever, two kinds of government Avliich
the Lord exercises. He governs frora love and from truth. This
distinction does not arise from his oavu avUI, but from the stales of
those Avho are the subjects of his governmeut. He deshes to govern
all from love ; and if all his subjects were principled iu love to Mm
above aU things, his kingdom Avould be one, and his oMy guvornment
A\ould be the dominion of love. But as there are some Avho are
governed by love, and some avIio are governed by truth, therefore

Chap. XVIIL] ST. JOHN. 445
heaven and the church constitute tAvo kingdoms, a celestial kingdom
and a spiiitual kingdom. Although these are distirct, they are not
separate, much less hostile to each other. They are like the A\'ill and
the understanding in man, Avhich, Avhile they are distinct faculties,
constitute one mind. As heaven and the church are iu the Lord's
sight as one man, the two kingdoms forra the will and understanding
of this Grauel Alan. And as the Avill and understanding enter into all
things of the mind; so these Iavo kingdoms enter into, -and indeed
constitute, the Avhole of heaven and the church. In the representative
church these tAvo kingdoms of the Lord Avere represented by the two
kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Jesus in the gospels is caUed both
the king of Israel and the king of Judah. When PUate, therefore, asks
him if he is khig of the Jews, he asks him respecting his sovereignty
as that of love or goodness. It is not indeed to be understood that
PUate intended to express any such meaning in Ms question. But as
all that is recorded in the Word was overruled by providence, so as to
contain a spiritual meaning, aud as those Avho recorded the events and
sayings wMch it relates Avere guided by divine inspiration, these Avords
of PUate are fiUed with a meaning which only the Author of inspira
tion .could give them. AA''hile, thertffore, in the historical sense we read
PUate's question to Jesus, iu the spiritual sense we perceive an act of
mental reflection and investigation into the tmth by those whom Pilate
represented. And he represented the Gentiles and those who were in
a GentUe state, a state more favourable than hostile to the truth, but
one which is influenced by others, rather than by an independent judg
ment, on questions of truth and righteousness.
34. Jesus answered him, Suijest thou this thing of thyself or did
others tell it thee of me ? The Lord ansAvers Pilate's question m the
meantime by asking hira another, because he desires those avIio inquire
of hhn respecting MmseU to reflect whether their inquiry springs from
their own hearts and understandings, or Avhether it comes from the
memory as a thing that has entered from without, and has thus beeu
suggested by others rather than come spontaneously from the prompt
ings of the mind itself There is a Avide difference in the character of
questions AA'hich come from the cravings of the heart and those which
sprmg from curiosity; betAveen those Avhich arise from a sense of
our own Avants, and those which proceed from the interest Ave feel iii
subjects that lie entirely beyond the rtxnge of our own experience. In
the Mstorical sense, the Lord no doubt answered PUate's question for
the purpose of drawing from him an acknoAvledgment of Avhat He knew
to be true, that the Roman governor had framed his question from

446 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XVIIL
Avhat he had learned respecting Jesus from the chief priests and
Pharisees. And this shows that, as he considered the present accusation
to have relation to some Jewish question, which did not come under
the cognizance of the Roman law, he desired to ascertain whether Jesus
had made any claim to be the rMer of the Jews.
35. Pilule unswered. Am I a Jew ? Thine own nation, and the chief
priests, have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou clone? In this
answer PUate acknoAvledged that he had not spoken as a Jew but as a
GentUe, not as one who asked him a question on which he had already
formed a conclusion, but as one who was free to judge. At the same
time, this question, as addressed to Jesus by Pilate, was no doubt
intended to draw from hira the admission or denial of the charge
Avhich the Jews had made against him, of having claimed the tMone
of Judea, and of draAving the Jews away from their allegiance to
Csesar. When Jesus did not answer his question, and did not confess
to having claimed to be king of the Jcavs, he asks him what he had
done, seeing he had been delivered into his hands as a criramal. When
the religious uses the secular power to effect its purposes in the treat
ment of heretics, there is the greatest cause to be alarmed for the
safety of even the best of men. When dissent from a human creed is
held to be a greater crime than the violation of the Divine command
ments, no perfection of virtue and piety can be expected to justify
the maintaining of heretical opinions. Of this our Lord Avas an
eminent example. But his owu case has had too little influence on the
conduct of some of his professed disciples. And so it is individually
with us, when the subject is applied to our inward lUe. AA'hen the
truth is delivered up by a depraved Avill to be judged by a blinded or
perverted understanding, there can be little hope of an impartial judg
ment. " Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee
unto me," said Pilate to Jesus. These are names Avhich in the AA''ord
are expressive of pirinciples of the Avill, good or evil as the case may
be, evidently evil in this case. PUate demanded of .Jesus " What
bast thou done?" To this question, which is almost an implied
accusation, the Lord says nothing. He speaks, but he passes over to
another and a higher subject, but one bearing upon the charge, that he
claimed to be king of the Jews.
36. Jesus unswered. My kingdom -is nut of this world. If my king
dom were ofthis world, then would my sei~vants fight, that I should not
be delivered to fhe Jews : but now is my kingdom not from hence. The
Lord's answer to Pilate's question removed any reasonable ground of
suspicion against him as one seeking for temporal poAver. 'By declar-

Chap, XVIIL] ST, JOHN. 447
ing that his kingdom Avas not of this Avorld, he claimed to be a king,
but disclaimed being a rival to any earthly potentate. He stated at
the same thne a great truth, and laid doAvn a great principle. Jesus is
i:ideed a king, and even the King of kings; aud he has a kingdom,
Avhich is above aU others. Princes iide and kingdoms exist by him.
As Divine Truth, he is the origin of all real power, of aU just laAv, of
all true government. His kingship and his kingdom do not come inta
coUision with earthly kings or kingdoms, but seek to enter into them,
and msphe them with the eternal principles of truth aud justice. His
kmgdom is not of this Avorid, although it is intended to be in this
world. One of the petitions of the prayer he has taught us to use is,
that his kingdora may come ; aud the language of prophecy teaches us
to expect a tirae when the kingdoms of this Avorld shall become the
kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, — a prediction which will be
fuUilled when the Lord reigns by his love and truth in the hearts of
the rulers and peoples of this world ; when his wUl is done on earth
as it is done in heaven. The church is his own visible kingdom on
earth ; but his true throne is in the human heart. When he rules
there he rules everyAvhere, in aU the temporal as well as the spiritual
affahs of men. The Lord's kingdom is in this respect distinguished
from the kingdoms of this world, as they have existed Mtherto : it is a
kingdom of peace. " If my kingdom were of this Avorld, then would
my servants fight (or strive), that I shoMd not be delivered to the
Jews." It was one of the prophetic characteristics of the Messiah,
that he should not strive, nor cry, nor lift up his voice in the streets.
One of his servants displayed to the world a disposition to tight when
he drew his sword in his Master's defence, but Jesus rebuked him,
and, through him, aU succeeding disciples who would defend or aid his
cause by force. The Lord gives this as an evidence of the unworldly
origm and nature of his kmgdom — of his kingdom not being from
hence, that Ms servants do not fight. Truth uses no carnal Aveapons
for its defence. It stands upon its OAvn merits, aud seeks to rule by
its inherent power. If these prove no sufficient protection, it is will
ing to suffer, and it is better that it should suffer at the hands of its
enemies than that it should be indebted for success to the warlike
actions of its friends. It may be delivered into the hands of the Jcavs,
or brought under the dominion of the evil ; and it may be persecuted
even unto the death ; but it wiU rise again in more than its former
poAver, even as Jesus himself, by unresistingly yielding himself into
the hands of his outward enemies, rose from the dead Avith all power
in heaven and on earth.

448 ST.^ JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
37. Hearing the Lord's declaration respecting his kingdom, Pilate
therefore saith ¦unto Mm, Art thou a king then ? Jesus answered. Thou
sayest tlmt I am a Icing. Tu this end was I horn, and for this cause
came I info this world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
Every one tlud ¦is of the truth heareth my voice. PUate had heard
from the Jcavs, as an accusation against Jesus, that he claimed to be a
king : and the Lord having spoken of his kingdom, the governor but
expressed the just inference he had draAvn from this admission, Avhen
he demanded of Jesus, "Art thou a king then?" Jesus answers this
question affirmatively. He theu declares that in claiming to be a king,
he claimed to be the Truth. " F'or this end was I born, and for tMs
cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the Tmth."
In saying this, our Lord expressed Mmself respecting his kmgsMp, as
it is in its first principles. A king is a governor, and tmth is the
principle that governs. Whether Ave say that truth governs, or that
laAV governs, it amounts to the same ; for truths are laws of order, ac
cording to Avliich all right government is exercised. Divme Truth is
that by Avhich the Lord goA'erns. Truth may therefore be said to
govern, and thus to be a king. The Lord is a Mug, and his govern
ment is over heaven and eartb, because he is Divine Tmth itself
This was the character in Avhich he came into the Avorld. He came as
Divine Truth, to put doAvn aU misrule, and to establish his kmgdom
of rigateousness. The kingdom of misrule was the kingdora of dark
ness, Avhich he carae to subdue ; and the kingdora of righteousness was
the kingdom of light, Avhich he came to set up, or restore, among men.
For this end Avas he born, for this cause came he into the world. And
to this end and for this cause he now comes to each of us. When Ms
truth is born in our hearts and comes into our understandmgs, he puts
down aU the raismle of evU and error AvitMn us, and sets up his kmg
dom of righteousness m its stead. Jesus therefore proceeds to say,
"Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." Every one Avho
loves the truth must be disposed to hear the voice of hmi who is the
Truth ; and to hear Ms voice is to hearken to and obey that which he
teaches. So the apostle, who Avrote this gospel, testifies. " They (who
confess not the Word incarnate) are of the Avorld ; therefore speak they
of the Avorld, and the AVOiid heareth them. We (who confess CMist)
are of God : he that knoAveth God heareth us. He that is not of God
heareth not us. Hereby kiioAv we the spirit of truth, and the sphit of
error" (1 John iv. 5). And they who are of the trutii are they who
do the truth. " Hereby Ave kiioAv that Ave are of the truth — that we
love not in Avord, neither m tongue ; but m deed and in truth'' (iii. 18).

Chap. XVIIL] ST JOHN. 449
He that is of the truth heareth the Lord's voice. The Lord's voice is
truth AA'ith its living affection ; and they hear this who hearken to and
obey it. Hoav mstructive the lesson, especially to aU who halt betAveen
two opinions, and seek to be convinced of the truth by extraneous
evidence !
38. Pilate saith unto him, Wliat is trutii ? This was a question
that might very naturally be proposed on this occasion by such a one
as PUate — a question much discussed by the wise of his time, and
AA'hich those of our own day debate as much as they did ; indeed the
diff'erences which exist even among the professed disciples of Christ
show that there is no certain knowledge among men as to Avhat truth
ready is, or Avhat really is truth. Our Lord did not ansAver PUate's
question, partly, we may presume, because PUate was not in a state to
accept either the definition of truth or the truth itself, and partly be
cause trutii must be seen to be knoAvn. In the supreme sense, Jesus
Christ hiraself is the Truth. But this raakes us no Aviser, unless we
know in Avhat respect he is so. Jesus Christ was the eternal AVord, or
divme Wisdom, made manifest. And the eternal AA'isdom is that
tMough Avhich all things exist and subsist, and of which it may be
said aU things consist. We commonly think of truth as a spoken
Avord expressive of Avhat is true ; but truth is the substance of all
things. Divine Truth is that principle in God through Avhich Divine
Love effected both creation and redemption. Truth may be said to
be the law of eternal order, according to Avhich God necessarily and
invariably acts. It is the law of his nature, and therefore the laAv of
his love. Love cannot come to us, and we cannot come to love, but
by means of truth. Hence the necessity of receiving the truth and
domg the tmth. Perhaps men Avlio ask Pilate's question imitate
PUate's conduct, Avho, when he hcul said this, went out again unto the
Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault ut all, but at the same
time consented to leave him to their avUI. PUate, finding Jesus innocent,
should have released hira ; but he seems to have had no very nice
sense of justice, and the fate of the just one Avas decided by the caprice
of a provincial governor.
39, 40. AVhile pronouncing Jesus innocent, Pilate said to the JeAfs,
But ye huve a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover ;
-will ye therefore that I r-elease unto yuu the King of the Jews ? Sin
gular it is that this custom should have placed Jesus before the Jcavs
iu ctuupany with a noted criminal, leaving them to determine which
they Avould choose. The passover itself had been instituted to cele
brate an act of divine judgment, in saving the innocent and slaying the
2 F

450 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XVIIL
guilty. Unmindful of the clemency theh forefathers had experienced
on that Mght when the angel passed over the oppressed, and destroyed
the oppressors, the Jews reverse the order of the divhie proceedmg,
and profane the institution by makmg it an occasion of settmg the
guUty free. The occasion is the more striking and the ordeal stUl more
severe U, as there is some ground for believmg, the robber and the
Saviour were both named Jesus, and as the name Barabbas means son
of the Father. In some of the earliest manuscripts, as quoted by the
early Fathers, Barabbas is also named Jesus, and its onUssion is supposed
to be due to the scruples of later CMistian transcribers. Here, then,
good and evU were presented before the Jews m the most stiikmg
manner. In name they were the same ; m reality, how different !
But whether this identity of name may have existed or not, Ave have
here an instance of both the good and the evil havmg been set before
the Jews, and being set before us. The manner m which the choice
is presented in the present mstance is the more favourable to the good,
seeing that Pilate asks the multitude if he shaU release the King of the
Jews, although the Lord's bemg presented for their choice under that
title Avas not likely to conciliate theh favour. They were, however,
like the deaf adder that refuses to be charmed. And what coidd have
charmed them if the voice of love and truth coMd not ? Yet they
vocUerate, Not this man, hut Barabbas. Let us not only learn a
solemn lesson from the conduct of the Jews, but let us remember that
this same choice is set before us in every instance m wMch goodness
and truth from the Lord, and evil and falsehood from heU, are presented
before us, in the constantly recurring incidents and business of daily
life, and where the alternative of choosmg is forced upon us. Let us
beware of choosing the evU and rejecting the good, especially that
highest good which is the good of love to the Lord, as it is opposed to
and by the lowest evil, the love of seU. The conclusion of this account
is not without its significance, Now Barabbas was a robber. That
deepest evU of the human heart AvMch he represented, robs us mdeed
of ali that is precious — the love and truth of CM'ist, and of aU time
happiness here and hereafter.

Chap. XIX, J ST. JOHN. 451
CHAPTER XIX.
In this chapter we have a further account of Piltxte's feeble effort to
save Jesus, and of the Lord's crucifixion, after the cruelties Avhicli both
the Jews and the Gentiles had heaped upon him. This account, Avhile
Avanting many particulars related by Matthew, contains some which
none of the other evangelists have recorded. What is peculiar to Johrt
we AA'iU consider at greater length, treating more briefly of that contained:
in the first gospel.
AVhen Ave read of the cruelties Avhich the Jews and the GentUes in
flicted on the meek and patient Son of Man, we may be ready to say,
as the Jews themselves said of their smfM predecessors, " If we had
been m the days of our fathers, we woMd not have been partakers Avith
them in the blood of the prophets.'' But Christians may be guilty of'
the blood of one greater than the prophets. Jesus was the impersona
tion of the eternal principles of righteousness and truth, AvMch the
prophets taught. Every sm wMch men commit against these principles,
is an act of violence done to the Son of Man. The principles of righteous
ness and truth, which the Lord so perfectly exemplified, he has perfectly
revealed to us in his Holy Word ; and just as men reverence or dishonour
the written Word they woidd reverence or dishonour the Incarnate Word,
were he to appear m person amongst them. It is the knowledge of this
fact that enables us to read of the Lord's sufferings and death in the right
sphit and with real profit. Regarded as cruelties inflicted on the sacred
person of the Saviour, they may produce a certain tenderness and
humUiation of heart, which is not Avithout its value and its use. But it
is only when the treatment of the Lord's person is seen to have re-
sMted from, and to represent, the treatment of Ms Word, or of the eter
nal principles which Avere manUested m the one and are revealed m the
other, that the record has its true practical value for those of aU time.
It was no doubt for this reason that the Lord came among men, Avith
out any thmg but his own mtrmsic Avorth to recommend him. If men
could not love hhn for the purity and beauty of his character, they
could not trMy love Mm at aU ; yet it was tMs very moral beauty that
caused the Jews to hate and persecute him. And so is it at this day.
AVhen, therefore, we read the sacred record of Ms lUe, and of his suffer-
mgs and death, we should learn from it to estimate how much our own
character is represented m that wMch was exhibited towards hhn by
men in the days of Ms flesh.
1-3, Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers -
platted a crown of thorns, and pmt it on his head, ami they put on hinf^ .

452 S'T JOHN. [Chap. XIX.
a purple robe, and said, Hull, King ofthe Jews ! and they smote him
with their hands. The plaiting a crown of thorns and putting it on
Ms head and clothing him'with a purple robe, was in mockery of Ms
caUing himself a king. And as the Lord's royalty is expressive of Ms
Divine Truth aud its government in the hearts of men, this mockery
represented the profaning of all that Avhich the Lord's kingship ex
presses. When Ave pervert the truth of the Word for our own evil
ends, we scourge the Son of Mau ; AA'hen to justify our evils we fabri
cate a system of ingenious error, and thus exalt our oavu wisdom above
the Avisdom of Jesus, we plait a crown of thorns and put it oa his head;
Avhen we substitute our OAvn righteousness for the righteousness of
Christ, we clothe him with a purple robe ; Avhen Ave are iuAvariUy wor
shippers of self and outwardly worshippers of the Lord, our worship of
hhn is a mocking salutation of Hail, King of the Jcavs ! while every
presumptuous sin Ave commit is a stroke inflicted on the Son of Mau.
AA^hen man had fallen, it was said of the ground, which had been
cursed for his sake, " Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth unto you."
The Son of Man was thus croAvned Avith one of the most characteristic
effects and marks of sin, when it first entered into the world. But
the ground which was then cursed for man's sake was that of his own
heart, when turned away from God ; and the thorns it produced, and
still produces, are the lusts that groAv out of its corruptions. These
thorns, which our sinfulness causes the corrupt and cursed soil to pro
duce, are those which Ave still plait into a croAvn, and which Ave place
in cruel derision upon the brow of the loAvly Saviour. For, as we
have seen, the contumelies Ave heap upon the Sou of Man are those
which we heap upon the truth Avhich He himself is.
4, 5. After this mockery aud cruelty, Avhich took place in the gover
nor's house, Pilate went forth again, and saith unto them. Behold, I
bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no f exult in him.
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple
robe. And Pilate saith unto them. Behold the man I This brmging
.of Jesus forth to the Jews Avitli the mock insignia of royalty, bespeaks
Tittle reverence or sincerity in PUate, seeing he is compelled to declare
that he can find no fault in him. But Avheu tbe heart is depraved
the understandmg is corrupted, aud even Avhen it judges right, it is
.easily induced to do wrong. Nevertheless the evil heart cannot en
tirely silence the understanding or prevent it from giving testimony m
favour of the truth ; and this is sometimes the testimony of the Truth
•itself, for Jesus addresses himself to the Jews, and says, " Behold the
^nan." This, in our version, is attributed to Pilate, but PUate's name

Chap. XIX.] ST. JOHN. 453
does not occur here, and the words appear to have been spoken by
Jesus himself. But by AA'homsoever spoken, the phrase. "Ecce Homo"
expresses a great truth. The Lord is the man, because he alone is
perfect man, as he is perfect God. One of the signs of degeneracy
wMch rendered the Incarnation necessary is thus described : " I beheld,
and there was no man " (Isa. xli. 28) ; " Wherefore when I carae was
there no man?" (I. 2). All that Avas truly human had perished from
among raen. For what is humanity but God's image in man ? All
that is trulj' human is an image of the Divine. AVhatever of humanity
is in us finitely, is m God infinitely. God raay be said to be Infinite
Man; aud Ave are finite raen so far as we are likenesses of the Infinite.
But man, or humanity, is especially predicable of the Lord Jesus
CMist, as God maMfest in the flesh; for he is Man, not only in virtue
of his having in Ms divinity all that originated created and finite
man, but all that exists in created man as an inhabitant of either
Avorld. The Lortl assumed human nature not only as it is in the created
Avorld, but as it exists in a faUcn world. He mdeed glorified the
humanity he assumed, by putting off all finiteness, as well as aU in
firmity ; so that even as to Ms assumed humanity he is perfect man,
and perfect man is God-man, or divine humanity. When therefore
Jesus said. Behold the man ! he drcAV the attention not only of those
AA-ho then saAV him, but of aU men, in aU ages, to himself, as the Man
AA-ho is the pattern of humanity, the One from Avhom alone aU that is
trMy huraan is possible to be derived, since he alone is Man in himself
As Man, the Lord is the true Object of faith and worship. We are no
longer required to believe in and serve God as an infinite and incom
prehensible essence, whom no man hath seen or can see, but we are
privUeged to know and worship him in the divine-human form in
wMch he appeared to Ms disciples after his resurrection, and to John
after his ascension, when in the midst of the seven candlesticks he
saw one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the
foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle : his head and his hairs
AvMte Uke wool, as wMte as suoav ; and Ms eyes like a flame of Me ;
and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; and
his voice as the sound of many waters ; and his countenance as the
sun shining in Ms strength. This is the same Being Avhom Pilate
brought firth, bleeding from the soldiers' rods, clothed with a purple
robe, croAvned Avith thorns, and exposed to the sneers and enmities
of the ferocious mMtitude. Noav in his glory, he is adored by all the
host of heaven ; henceforth to be worshipped by the ever mcreasing
numbers of the faithful upon earth.

4.-. 4 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIX.
6. 'Wlien the chief priests therefore and. the officers saw him, they
cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him I So is it ever with the
evil, and especially with the corrupt members of the church ; it is
they that crucify the Lord afresh, and put Mm to an open shame.
And their wrath against him is the greater, and their demand for his
crucifixion is the louder, the more they have defaced in themselves
tbe divine image, which alone makes them men, and worthy of the
name. Pilate saith unto them, Tcdce ye him, rj.nd crucify him; for I
find no fault in him. Again there is an appeal to the Jcavs on the
ground of laAv and justice ; he, Avhose prerogative it was to confirm
or cancel the ecclesiastical sentence, declaring he found no fault in
him. Yet Pilate did not, at least at this stage of the proceedings,
show very much concern about the fate of Jesus, since he desired the
Jews themselves to carry their unjust sentence into execution. Thus,
whUe the Jews hated Jesus, the Gentiles shoAved no great love for
him, none at least, sufficient to save him from an unjust punishment.
7. To Pilate's repeated declaration, 1 find no faMt m him, the Jeics
answered. We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because
he made himself the Son of God. Reference is here made to the law :
" He that blasphemetli the name of tbe Lord ; and that prophet or
dreamer which shall say. Let us go after other gods, which thou hast
not known, and let us serve them ; shall be put to death " (Lev. xxiv.
16 ; Deut. xiu. 1, 5). The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy, because,
he being a mau, made himself God (chap. x. 33) ; and they sought to
kiU Mm, because he said that God was his Father, making himself
equal with God (chap. v. 18). But if they had understood theh own
Scriptures, they Avould bave knoAvii that the IMessiah could be nq
other than God manifest in the flesh, and that in serving him they
served theh God. But they wished to find in the Messiah an earthly
king, the restorer to them of an earthly kingdom ; and they hated and
persecuted one whose life and teaching both proclaimed that his king
dom was not of this world. This same earthly desire Ues at the
foundation of all hatred of Jesus, or of the truth which rcA'cals him.
And this desire professes to have a laAv by AA'hich it judges ; for passion,
Avhile it prejudges, frames or perverts the law to justif}' its proceedings,
and attain its object. In the church, on divine and spiiitual subjects,
men find their law in the Scriptures themselves, Avhich the evil per
vert to their oavu purposes. The Jcavs, in our Lord's time, had made
the Word of God of none effect by their traditions, teaching for
doctrines the coramandments of men ; and so in regard to the
Messiah. By Avhat divine laAv ought Jesus to die, because he made

Chap. XIX.] ST, JOHN. 455
himself the Son of God ? Not by any, but by the perverted applica
tion of the law. As the devil used the truth to tempt Jesus, so do
the evil employ the tmth to deny him ; but in both cases it is the
tmth wrested to their own, whUe they believe it is to his, destruction:
for he who rejects the truth destroys his oavu soul.
8, 9. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more
afraid; and went again into the judgment-hall, and saith unto Jesus,
Whence art thou ? But Jesus grx-ve him no answer. It is to be ob
served that the Jews had at first charged Jesus before PUate with
bemg giiUty of sedition. But when they found that Pilate pronounced
him innocent of the civil offence, they then accused him of the re
hgious offence of having caUed MmseU the Son of God, for wMch,
they declare, he was, according to their law, worthy of death. Thus,
when they could not secure his condemnation by the Roman law, they
sought to obtain it by the Mosaic law. AA^hen PUate heard that
Jesus was accused of sorae mfraction of the JeAvish law, he was the
more afraid. It is observed, not we think without reason, that Pilate,
con-vinced that Jesus was innocent of the political charge, and im
pressed Avith the dignity and meekness of his deportment under the
brutal treatment and mockery of the soldiers, AA'as startled by the new
charge into a fear that, m condemning Jesus, he might be doing some
thing more serious then consenting to the death of a suspected, obscure,
political offender. He therefore Avent again into the judgment-baU
and mterrogated .Jesus. His question. Whence art thou ? does uot
relate to the Lord's country, but to his origin. This is a question
which the sceptical are ever proposing. But it is one to which they
receive no direct reply. " Jesus gave him no ansAver." How striking
and expressive is the Lord's sUence ! a gentle but severe reproof, not
oMy to the vaciUating sceptic who demands, but to the wary debater
and the ignorant zealot who offer, an answer to every question that
may be proposed as to the origin of the tmth ! Truth reveals its own
origin as Avell as its own nature, but it is to ingenuous minds : to
them it reveals its heavenly origin, because they desire to knoAv
Avhence it is, that they may ascend with it and by it to him from
whence it comes.
10, 11. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest fhou not unto me?
Knowest thou not thcd I have power to crucify thee, and have power to
release thee ? Pilate's language suppUes the reason of our Lord's
silence. He claims to himself the power to crucify or to release.
Every one has indeed the power to judge and to choose between truth
and error, and between good aud evil, but this poAver is not of man

456 ST. JOHN, [Chap. XLX
but of God. The answer of Jesus to Pilate is his answer to every
man. Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were
given thee from above. And this expresses a double truth. It teaches
us that the faculties of rationality and liberty, by which we are able
to judge and choose, are the constant gifts of God ; and that, as all
good is of divine providence, all evil is of divine permission. By God
permitting evil we are not to understand that he sanctions it, oMy that
he does not absolutely prevent it, but restrains it Avithin certain limits,
permitting evU only so far as it can be made subservient to the cause
of good, that cause including the existence of a less instead of a
greater evil. The divine permission of evil, as it does not interfere
Avith man's free-will, does not interfere with man's responsibUity.
Therefore, says our Lord, he tlud delivered me unto thee hath the
greater sin. The greatness of sin is proportioned to the extent of
kuoAvledge. The Jew had greater sm than the GentUe, because the
.JcAv had a law to guide him Avhich the GentUe bad not.
12. And from thenceforth Pilcde sought fo release him: but the Jews
cried out, saying. If fhou let this man go, thou art not Ccesar's friend:
whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Ccesur. PUate's
struggles for Jesus' release were like the struggles of a half-convinced
understanding against the inclinations of a corrupt and stubborn heart
Pilate sought to release Jesus, but there Avere Iavo poAvers Avhich acted
upon him, the Jews on one side and Cicsar on the other. When
spiritual and temporal motives unite, Iioav difificult it is to stand !
The Jcavs avIio hated Jesus because he did not deliver them from
Ctesar's 3'oke, sought Ms condemnation on the ground of his being a
rival king to Caesar ! ' They contended therefore for the subjection of
the spiiitual to the temporal, of the heavenly to the worldly. Such
at least do those Avhom the Jcavs represented — those hi the church Avho
pervert the truth, and invert divine order.
13. When Pilufe therefore heurrl that saying, he brought Jesus forth,
caid sat down in the judgment-seut, in a place that is called the Pave
ment, hut in the Hebrew, Gubbafha. AVe have here another of the
vacillations of the natural man, the too jiliant subject of opposing influ
ences. Pilate again brings forth Jesus, and places Mm before his
enemies, AA'hUe he himself sits doAvn in the judgment-seat, in the place
called the Pavement. This sfone-puved place, as the Avord means,
Avas without the prastorium; aud here the judgment-seat Avas placed
iu the presence of the Jcavs. The sentence pronounced from this place
ought to have been in accordance Avith the truth ; but stone is the
symbol of Avhat is false as Avell as of Avliat is true, and in this ii-)stanco

Chap, XIX.] ST. JOHN. 457
its symbolical meaning was too completely verified. The meanmg of
the Hebrew word for the pavement can only be conjectured : for it may
mean either a surface or an eleA'ation, according to the meaning of the
tAvo root Avords, from either of Avhich it may have been derived. But
the givmg of the HebreAV name as well as the Greek is no doubt m-
tended to teach us that the judgment pronounced upon the Son of
man had its ground in the Jewish as well as in the Gentile raind — that
the state, represented by the place frora which the unjust judgment
against the Holy One finally issued, was a state of opposition to the
divme truth, both in the church aud in the world. Pilate " sitting
down " in the tribunal is expressive, too, of a more interior and perma
nent condition of the mind than hitherto, consisting Avell Avith the
final decision which was about to be made.
14. And if wus the pirepiarafion of the passover, and about the sixth
hour. The Jewish and the Christian passovers were thus simultan
eously in preparation — a coincidence not of man but of God. " Christ
our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. v. 7) ; and the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world is to be slain by those hands by
which the paschal lamb was killetl, shoAving hoAV much the Avorld stood
in need of something better than the blood of an unblemished animal
for its deliverance from death. When PUate sat down on the judg
ment-seat it was about the sixth hour. Mark says the third hour.
This apparent discrepancy is probably reconcilable, and explanations
of it are offered m the commentaries of those who devote their talents
to the elucidation of the historical and literal senses. Regarded as con
taining a sphitual meaning, there is no contradiction, but only a varia
tion, each statement being the basis of a distinct idea in harmony with
the other. Three and six belong to the spiritual class of numbers, but
six expresses greater fulness and perfection than three. The sixth is
especially expressive of the last of the states of labour and trial Avhich
precede the Sabbath of rest, and therefore may be considered espe
ciaUy suitable to be mentioned iu John's- gospel, AA'hich describes
higher states than those described in the other evangelists. It was tit
this hour, then, that PUate made his last appeal to the Jews in behalf
of Jesus, when he said unto them, Behold your Kuig ! AVe raay here
remark that Jesus was presented to the Jcavs as a man and as a king —
a man as the essential Goodness, and a king as the essential Truth :
and under these two distinct characters he is presented to all, and to
each of us imUvidually.
15. But they cried out. Away with Mm, away with him, crucify him.
Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? Tlie chief priesfs

458 ST. JOHN. [Cii--i,P. XIX.
answered, Wo hci-ve no king hut Ccesur. We may well stand appaUed
at this answer to PUate's appeal. Yet it is less to be wondered at and
condemned than the rejection of the Lord in his character of Saviour,
as revealed in the gospel, Avhere men have the opportunity of studying it
in all its amplitude, whereas fcAv of the Jcavs saw it except in some
of its particular manifestations. Yet that denial of Jesus, which some
are not ashamed to avow, is exceeded in criminality by those who,
whUe they profess to accept the Word as divme, turn it against the
divinity of CMist's nature and the perfect holmess of his character.
But evil and falsehood may exist m connection with the soundest in
tellectual views of religion, and those may and do utter the cry,
" Away with him, crucify him," for these are expressive of the hatred
and repugnance to divine love and truth both by the wiU and under
standing. And when, to Pilate's demand, " ShaU I crucUy your King,"
the chief priests answer, "We have no king but Caesar," we may see
represented, not only the utter rejection of the Lord as the Truth, that
should be the supreme ruler of the whole heart and mmd, but also
the adoption in its place of mere worldly power, originating m seU-
love and the love of the Avorlcl. The Talmud says, " We have no kmg
but God." The chief priests now say, " We have no king but Caesar." A
temporizing race. Yet the change expresses the changed condition of
the church, from the -worsMp of God to the worship of man. But
this is not a sin peculiar to the Jews ; it extends to all who exalt the
temporal above the spiritual.
16, 17. And now we have an account of the Lord's crucifixion, of
which it may be only necessary to notice at length the particMars in
which John supplements the other evangelists. Tlien delivered he
him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
And he, bearing Ms cross, went forth into a place called the place of a
skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha. The spectacle here
presented is indeed most affecting, and most humUiating. What
can be more deeply affecting than the Lord of lUe being led away
to crucifixion, bearing the cross on Avhich he Avas to be fastened?
and what can be raore humUiating than to see men, before whom
he had lived a life of the purest virtue and benevolence, leading
him, hke the worst and meanest criminal, to the most cruel and igno
minious death, Avhich the depraved ingenuity of man has been able
to devise for inflicting prolonged torture ou his felloAV-creatures. Yet
these were permitted for the wise and merciful ends of completmg the
work of human redemption ; but, like Ml other evils, permitted in
accordance Avith the immutable laws of Divme Providence, wMch

Chap. XIX.] ST, JOHN. 459
ever act so as to overrale e-vil, as far as it can be overruled, for good.
It is a laAV of Providence, as it is of creation, that aU things, both
natural and spiritual, be preserved in a state of equilibrium and con
sequent freedom of action. Free action is that Avhicli takes place
under the influence of tAvo equal forces, or Avheu action and reaction
are equal. An example of this occurs in the revolution of the planets,
our OAVU for instance. The earth is preserved m its orbit bj' two op
posing forces. A force is constantly draAving it toAvards the sun, and
a force is constantly drawing it aAvay from the sun. If either of these
forces were tc overpower the other, the earth Avould either be drawn
mto the body of the sun or carried beyond the boundaries of the solar
system, and in either case Avould be destroyed. Man, as a spiritual being,
must, at the tmie of Ms creation, have been the subject of a corres
ponding equilibrium. Consciousness and reason were the tAvo forces by
the equilibrium of Avhich man possessed the poAver of free choice and
action. Reasou, eMightened by revelation, told him that, as a created
and finite being, he derived his life contiuuallj' from God ; Avhile con
sciousness gave Mm no other impression than that his life was his
OAVU. AA'ithout this consciousness, no one of us coMd exist in a state
of finite mdividuality. It constitutes our proprium, our seU. De
prived of it Ave should be absorbed into the Deity, as the planet,
deprived of its centrifugal force, would be drawn into the sun. Ou
the other hand, were reason and revelation to lose their poAver, we
should be canied away from God as the centre of our life, and wander
into the regions of darkness and death. This was the condition mto
which man had come by the fall ; and it was to bring him back into
the orbit of order, and restore him to the enjoyment of life and light,
that the Lord came into the Avorld — that he left the ninety and nine
and came to seek that which had gone astray. But the spiritual
equilibrium which Avas lost by the faU, AA'as lost not only to man
individually, but to the race, and extended both to the natural and
to the spiritual world. Those who had confirmed themselves in a life of
evil upon earth, could not live in the kingdom of heaven, Avhicli
derives the light of its wisdom and the warmth of its love from God,
as the Sun of righteousness ; they therefore gave existence to an op
posite kmgdom, AA'hich is the kingdom of darkness and death. Be
tween these two opposite kingdoms, each of which exercises an in
fluence on mankind, there must be an equihbrium, otherwise evil
woMd become more powerful than good, and men would be deprived
of the power of doing good from choice. To some extent this bail
come tci be the case. And Avhen the Lord came into the world, the

460 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIX.
restoration of the equUibrium between heaven and hell, as well as
that which man had disturbed and indeed alraost destroyed in MmseU,
Avas one of the grand objects for AA-hich the Lord came mto the world.
In order to effect this there was no other Avay but for the Lord to
become man. And aU his work in the flesh Avas the raeans of restor
ing the order Avhich evU had destroyed. The terrible sufferings and
death he endured Avere perraitted for the purpose of aUowing the
Avhole poAver of evU m both Avorlds to concentrate itseU upon him,
that the power of evU might be broken, and that the equilibrium
betAveen heaven and hell, and between good and evU, might be
restored. AVe wiU now briefly advert to some of the particulars related of the
Lord, as the Avilling sacrifice for sin. Pilate delivered Jesus unto the
Jcavs to be crucified. Not iU-disposed toAvards Jesus, and not unwiU
ing to release him, Pilate yields to the clamour of the Jews, and
delivers mto their hands one in whom he confessed he found no faMt.
Considered personaUy, Pilate displays very strikmgly the character of
the natural man who is weU-intentioned, but is guided by no fixed
principles of justice and rectitude. Not a little of the evil in tliis
Avorld is done by persons who have a large share of natural goodness,
but are deficient in the principle that is necessary to guide it to right
and useful actions. They Avould not wUUngly do wrong, but are
too ready, under per.suasion and pressure, to sanction what is not right.
Good AAithout truth is not good. It is GentUe good, and may exist both
among the GentUes out of the church and those Avho are m a Gentile
state withhi it. Pilate was a GentUe, and, m the gospel, represents
the GentUes. He, as a GentUe, did not desire to crucUy Jesus, yet it
Avas by his yielding to the clamour of the Jews that he was crucified.
Both Jews and GentUes Avere concerned iu his death, though Avith
different degrees of criminality ; and as Jesus died by, so he (bed for,
both Jcavs and Gentiles. He Avhom PUate delivered, the Jews took,
and led hira away to be crucified. In these tAvo expressions we see
the union of the two corrupt principles under Avhich the JeAvish
church acted agamst Jesus ; for to take him expresses an act of the
AviU, and to lead him away, an act of the understanding. " And he,
betirmg his cross, went forth into a place AA-hich is called the place of a
skull." The cross, on Avhich malefactors were executed, was a sign of
the evU Avhich they were then considered to expiate. When the JeAvs
compelled Jesus to bear his cross, they no doubt mtended it as a sign
of guilt. But as they kneAV Mm to be innocent, it was realh' a sign
of theh OAA'U guUt, and represented Avliat they had done to his AVord —

Chap. XIX.] ST. JOHN. 461
laid upon it and compeUed it to bear the burden of theh own ini-
qMtj-. Then the Lord bearing his cross, went forth unto " the place
of a skuU." The name of the place, lUje the act committed upon it,
indicated that the Word had been deprived, so far as respected the
JeAvs themselves, of its lUe, and that nothing remained to them but
the dead letter, the form of truth Avithout its poAver. The Hebrew
name of the jilace is given, no doubt to express the idea, that m the
death of the Lord every Autal principle, not oMy of the JcAvish, but of
the Hebrew church, was destroyed. The HebrcAv was a continuation
of the ancient church. It was intermediate, in character as in time,
betAveen the church caUed Noah and that named Israel ; and something
of the ancient church passed through it into the Israelitish. Every
thmg of the church, both internal and external, had therefore perished
among the Jews, and the Jewish dispensation, as possessing the oracles
of God, was a sphitual Golgotha.
18. It was here, therefore, where they crucified him, and two other
-with him, on eitlier side one, and Jesus in the midst. There were tAvo
kmds of capital punishment among the Jcavs, stoning and hanging.
Some are of opmion that hanging Avas not infUcted on the liAing, but
Avas only added to the real punishment, to mark the enormity of the
crime; and hence the saying that "he that is hanged is accursed of
God " (Deut. xxi. 23). There are instances, it is true, Avliere this is
distinctly related (as in Joshua x. 26), but there are others Avhere it is
mentioned alone (as Joshua viii. 29, Esther vii. 9). It is more probable
that the two kmds of punishment Avere used both separately and coiii-
bmed. They represented two kmds of sphitual death, that produced
by falsities, which is meant by stoning, and that produced by evil,
AvMch is meant by hanging upon a tree ; stones being emblematical
of falsities, and wood of evil. The .JeAvs regarded crucifixion as
answering to theh punishment of hanging. PaM recognised m this
more disgrraceful punishment, and the cause attached to it, a type which
found its fMfilment in Jesus. " Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us : for it is Avritten, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. iii. 13). Those who take a purely
natural view of the Scriptures understand this to mean, that Jesus
took upon Mmself the curse of the law, and by Ms death removed the
curse from us. AVhat is the curse of the law ? How did .Jesus be
come a curse for us ? and hoAv, by so doing, did he redeem us from
the curse ? The curse which the law pronounces against the (Us-
obedient is death, but it is spiritual death, or the extinction m the
heart of love to God and man, for this love is lUe. spiritual and eternal.

462 ST. JOHN. [Ch.vp. XIX.
The curse under which all mankind lie by nature is not any divine
malediction or sentence of death, but the unavoidable condition of
creatures born in sin, and Avith so strong a hereditary tendency to sin,
that they cannot naturally help sinning. Christ became a curse for us
by taking upon himself our nature Avith its hereditary curse. And he
redeemed us by undoing the curse, so far as regarded the humanity he
assumed ; and by this he provided for the undoing of the curse iu the
case ofmen. The crucifixion of Jesus, considered in its spiritual aspect,
represented the total rejection of the Word as the divme truth, Avhich
had been revealed to them and their fathers. The Lord's crucifixion
Avas a crime that could only be committed in a corrupt age ; and, eff'ected
as it was by the priesthood, could only be committed by a corrupt
church. The Lord exemplified in his life aud enforced in his teaching
the principles of that Word which the Jews professed to believe and
reverence. If they could hate aud crucify one who presented the
purest example of the life which theh OAvn law reqMred, it could only
be because they had crushed out of their hearts aU sincere love for the
holiness which their laAv comraanded. They treated the Lord, there
fore, precisely as they had treated the AVord, with this only difference,
that theAA'i'ittenlawreceived outward homage, whUe the spoken and acted
law was the object of open hatred and persecution, a persecution Avhich
was pursued even to the death of the cross ; and to make the inMction
of the punishment the greater indignity, they crucified tAvo others with
Mm, one on either side, and Jesus in the midst. In this, too, they
exMbited a sign simUar to that which our Lord himself presented of
theh state. These two, one of whom was the penitent thief, repre
sented those who are in good and those who are in truth : m the case
of the impenitent thief, those who are in truth alone ; but in the
abstract sense, they represent the principles of good and truth them
selves. These are on either side of Jesus, and he is m the midst,
Avhere they are conjoined.
19. And Pilcde wrote a title, and put 'it on ihe cross, Jesus op
Nazareth, the King op the Jews. It is remarkable that the title King
of the Jews, on the oMy two occasions of its being applied to Jesus, is
in both mstances employed by Gentiles, the first time at his bhth,
the second time at Ms death. He Avas born King of the Jcavs, accord
ing to the wise men of the East ; he was crucified King of the Jews,
according to the governor of the West. It may be admitted that U the
Gentiles thought of Jesus as a king, they, knowing he was to be born
a Jew, would naturally thmk of him as Kmg of the Jews ; and there
can be no question that PUate's accusation was derived from his Jewish

Chap. XIX.] ST. JOHN. 403
enemies. But there is evidently something more in it thau this, as
may be inferred from its being so carefully recorded that the JeA\'s
eomplamed to Pilate of the form of the inscription, and that he refused
to Mter it. Regarding the inscription itself, though substantially the
same in aU the gospels, it has particular differences iu each, antl John's
has a part not contained in any of the others. Alattbew says, " This is
Jesus the King of the Jcavs ;'' Mark, " The King of the JeAvs ;" Luke,
" TMs is the King of the Jcavs ; " John alone gives, " Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of the Jews." Those Avho believe that the sacred Avriters
were mfiueuced but not directed by the Spirit, or that they Avrote from
eMightened reason but not from verbal inspiration, see iu these, as in
other variations, nothmg more than characteristic diff'erences in record-
mg what they saw or heard. Those, on the other hand, Avho believe
that there is a divine authorship in the least as in the greatest things
of the Word, knoAv that there is a divine meaning in them also. The
inscription over the cross is given with greater fulness and precision
by Matthew and John, most fuUy by John. The first aud the last in
every series are the most important, but the last more than the Mst,
for m the last aU prior things exist simultaneously and in fulness. In
the two midtUe gospels the Lord is only the King of the Jcavs, iu the
first he is also Jesus, m the last he is Jesus of Nazareth. John,
describmg thmgs as they appear to those who have reached the highest
states of regeneration, and are thus of a celestial character, gives the
superscription in its fulness, that it may express the glorMed humanity
of the Saviour, as known and acknowledged by those in the church Avho
have realized the greatest height and depth of the Lord's saving love
and wisdom. Jesus is that name of tbe Lord which is expressive of Ms
love, and kmg is a title expressive of his wisdom ; but Avhen he is called
Jesus of Nazareth he is described as Divine love in its fulness, and
Avhen he is called Kmg of the Jews he is described as Divine Avisdom
m its power. Jesus is caUed a Nazarene in reference to the humanity
he assumed m the world, and wMch, glorified, is the Divine
NATURAL ; and he is called the King of the JeAvs, and was represented
by the kings of Judah, m respect to his divine wisdom, as displayed
m the government of heaven and the church, especially in and over
those who constitute his celestial kingdom. Looking at the super
scription over the cross, as read by us and reahzed in our experience,
Jesus of Nazareth is Kmg of the Jews, when Ms love rMes in our
hearts and thence in our deeds, and when his Avisdom mies m our under
standmgs and thence m our words ; or, when from Ms love by means
of his -wisdom Jesus is Lord of aU that we are and have and do.

464 ST. JOHN. [Cmvp. XIX.
20. Tliis title then read ma.ny ofthe Jews, for the place where Jesus
was crucified wus nigh to the city, and it was written in Hebrew und
Greek and Latin. This title, written by a Gentile and read by the
Jcavs, foreshadowed the acknoAvledgment of Jesus by the GentUe world,
and the knowledge of him, without belief in Mm, by the JcAA'ish people.
The superscription vvas read by many of the JeAvs, because the place
Avliere Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. The crucifixion of Jesus
took place outside the city, in fMfilment of a representative laAv
regarding the Jewish sacrifice for sin, " for the bodies of those beastt,
Avhose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin,
are burnt Avithout the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might
sanctify the people Avith his oavu blood, suffered without the gate "
(Heb. xiii. 11). Jesus, we have had occasion to remark, bore our sins m
his own body (1 Pet. ii. 24), he having derived from his fallen mother all
our hereditary tendencies to sin. The maternal huraanity, thus fraU
and finite, was, however, to be put off, as the flesh of the sm-offering
was rejected and carried without the camp (Lev, iv. 11). But the
sin-offering must be considered in connection with others, especiaUy
the burnt-offering, before avc can see its full meanmg and right
application. In the sin-offering the fat that covered the inwards and
the two kidneys Avere burnt on the altar of the burnt-offermg, at the
bottom of Avbicli the blood, after some sprinklings with it, was poured ;
the body of the animal, Avith the legs aud skin, being carried and burnt
Avithout the camp. In the buriit-off'eriug the Avhole animal Avas laid
upon the altar and entirely consumed. These tAvo kinds of offermgs
represented Iavo distinct acts, and Iavo general stages, in the progress
of man's regeneration and of the Lord's glorification. The sin-offering, in
which the blood and the fat that covered the iuAvards were offered to
God, was a typical description of the. regeneration of the inward man,
aud the burnt-offering, in AA'hich the whole animal Avas consumed,
represented the regeneration of the whole man, both iuAvard and out
ward, of the mind and of the life. As the Lord's glorification was but
a more exalted forra of man's regeneration, the same sacrifices and offer
ings are typical descriptions of both. The glorification of the internal
of the Lord's humanity was, therefore, represented by the sm-offering,
and the glorification of his Avhole humanity, external as Avell as mternal,
Avas represented by the burnt-offering. But Avliy shoMd the sin-
offering, in which only part of the animal was offered, be apphcable
to the Lord's crucifixion, when this was the last act by AA'hich his
humanity Avas fuUy glorified, and Avas fully united to the divinity '!
The Lord's crucifixion was the last act of his glorification, but not

Chap. XIX.] S'T JOHN. 465
exclusive of his resurrection. By crucifixion he Avas a sin-offeiing ; by
resurrection he was a bumt-offering. By cracifixion he put off the
maternal humanity, for then the son of Alary died ; by resurrection he
put on the Divine Humanity, for then the Son of God arose. It was
in Ms resurrection body that the Lord offered himself up a living sacri
fice to God, Avithout spot or blemish. It was then that the Humanity,
AvhoUy divine, became united to the essential Divinity, and that they
became one Person for ever. — But whUe the place where Jesus was
crucified was without the city, it was nigh unto it. This nearness is
luentioned to account for the circumstance that many of the Jews read
the superscription. The resMt showed that they themselves were still
in close connection with the corrupt principles by Avhich they had
sought and effected his condemnation. The superscription they read
Avas in the three languages of the then civUized world, and which in
the New Testament itself is sometimes spoken of as the world. The
title being written m three languages may be understood as a sign of
the wide dominion of the Son of man; as a prophetic declartxtion that he
AvoMd sway his sceptre over all nations and languageis ; as further indi
cated on the day of Pentecost, when the apostles spake with new
tongues, and were heard by every man among the numerous and diverse
hearers in his own language (Acts ii. 6). The inscription bemg m
three languages is mentioned oMy by Luke and John, as one that is
realized by those who have attained to the more advanced states of
regeneration, the oMy difference between the two records bemg, that m
John the HebreAv is placed first, as consistent with the character of Ms
gospel, and with the states of spiritual order and life which he describes.
The three languages in which the inscription was written are expressive
of the three general characteristic differences which exist among men,
by whom the Lord's title of King of the Jews avUI be known and
acknowledged ; and also, m agreement with this, of the three elements
that enter, either m the order given by Luke or by John, into aU iniU-
A-idual confession of the Lord as such. The Hebrew, the Greek, and
the Latin, whether we judge frora the characteristic differences m the
genius of the peoples, or of their language and literature, wUl be found
to answer to will, intellect, and action, and thus, in a right condition
of mmd, to love, intelligence, and poAver.
21, 22. Tlien sa:id the chief priests ofthe Jews to Pilate, Write not
the King of the Jews, hut that he said, I am the King of the Jews.
Filate answered. What I h ave written I h ave written. The chief priests,
instead of representing those AA'ho are in the love and worship of the
Lord, represent those who are in the love and worship of self Such
2 G

466 S'T JOHN. [Chap. XIX.
cannot consent to the Lord being proclaimed the king of the Jcavs,
even when Avritten over his cross as an accusation against him.
The priests propose to alter the accusation to his having said he was
King of the Jews. Yet Jesus did not say so. He affirmed that he
Avas a king, but declared that his kingdom was not of this Avorld.
This, therefore, would have been a false charge, like that which the
false Avitnesses testified against him, that he had declared he would
destroy the temple and build it again in three days. But Pilate
declmed to listen to their proposal. It is certainly singular that a
Gentile, who had not sufficient principle to save from an unjust punish
ment one whom he Avas not only empoAvered but bound to protect,
should yet write over his cross the accusation that he was King of the
Jews. It can hardly have been regarded by him in any other light
than as indicating Jesus' claim to the title. And as the Jews kncAv
that the writing on the cross of a malefactor was a statement of the
crime for which he suffered, the Avriting on the Lord's cross must have
been understood to be AA'hat is caUed an "accusation." Yet the truth
is sometimes spoken in derision, and most assuretUy m this mstance it
Avas. Spoken, too, or written, as in this instance it was, by one who was a
typical man, who represented the GentUe world, and those also AvitMiithe
church who are in a GentUe state, who may be, as PUate most probably
was, spoUed through vain philosophy, who are not of themselves
hostUe but rather favourable to the truth, so far as they know it, but who
consent to judge and treat and condemn it from the report of its ene
mies. PUate is the type of those who can see the truth when they
judge of it by its own evidence, but who are easUy turned aside by the
testimony of others. Pilate, lioAveA'er, adhered to Avliat he had voluntarUy
Avritten. WhatAve have inscribed on the mind bya deliberate actremains.
23, 24. Hien the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his
garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a purl; and cdso his
coat; now fhe coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots
for ''d, whose it shull be: thut the scripture might he fidfi-lled, which
.saith. They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they
did cast lots. These things therefore tbe soldiers did. This is a more
precise account than is given by Matthew and Mark, who say nothing
of the coat, nor of its being disposed of by lot. Here again Ave may
see the character of John's gospel. The deeper the view the more
distinctly tbe parts are seen : the more minute the more comprehen
sive. In this historical circumstance of the soldiers dividing the Lord's
garments there is a spiiitual meaning interesting and instructive. The

Chap. XIX.] ST. JOHN. 467
Lord, like the prophets who represented him, was a sign to the people
Israel. What he endured Avas indeed an awful reality, but it was the
effect and the sign of what tbe Israelitish church had done to the
AVord. Regarded in his character of the Word, the Lord's inner .and
outer garments represented its inner and outer senses. In its inmost
essence the AVord is the very Divine Truth, such as it is above the
highest heaven, and thus transcending the finite faculties of angels and
men. To make itself apprehensible by creaturely minds. Divine Truth
clothed itself with garments woven from the fibres of angelic and
human thought, but by the avUI and wisdom of God, not of man.
These garments are the spiritual and literal senses of the Word, The
spiritual sense of the AVord is the Divine Truth as it exists among the
angels, and the literal sense is Divine Truth as it is among men, in the
revelation Avliich they possess in the sacred Scriptures. It is not,
however, to be understood that the spiritual sense, though essentially
for the ang'ds, is AA-hoUy concealed from the eyes of men. As spiiitual
beings, meii can have some perception of the spiritual sense, but they
see it through the literal sense, thus indirectly and as through a glass
darkly, Avhile the angels see it without the intervention of that natural
medium, and thus directly in the clear light of heaven. When we
thus regard the Lorcl as the Word, and bis inner aud outer garments
as representing the inner and outer meanings of the Word, as accom
modated to the apprehensions of angels and raen, we can see the mys
terious meaning contained in the circumstance of the soldiers dividing
his raiment, and casting lots upon his -"esture. Thus understood Iioav
significant the rending and dividiug of his outer garment, and the
preserving of his inner garment entire ! The literal sense of the Word
is rent and divided by heresiarchs, and each takes a part ; but the
spiritual sense is ever preserved entire. In the Jewish church, at the
time of its end, the Word was torn to pieces by contending factions ;
and in the end of every church it is the sarae. Each sect takes a
separate portion of the Word, by taking from it what suits itself, and
each establishes from these fragmentary parts tenets that are destructive
of the truth as a Avhole. But AA'hat is to be lamented is, that different
parties in the church, iu thus dividmg the Word, divide also what God
in his Word has joined together — they divide charity and faith, piety
and works. Not only is this done dogmatically, by maintaining the
doctrine of salvation by faith alone, but by carrying that doctrine into
every department of thought and Ufe. This is meant by dividing the
sacred garment of the Lord into four parts ; for as the number four,
like tAvo, signifies charity and faith, piety and works united, division

468 ST. JOHN. [Cuap. XIX.
into foM parts signifies their separation ; and when this is effected,
the uMty of the Truth and of the Church is destroyed. So far as
regards fhe Word, this can only be done Avith its literal sense. And
at the end of the Church men generally know and acknowledge no
other. It is of the Lord's providence that it is so. The literal sense,
consisting principally of apparent truths, is capable of being interpreted
variously, each interpreter obtaining a part of the truth, but none
possessing the whole. But the spiritual sense consists of real truths,
txnd does not admit of being diversely explained, so as to be bent into
compliance Avitlx the diverse vicAvs of various interpreters. The literal
sense of tbe AVord introduce>:; to a knowledge of the inner sense those
who sincerely desire it ; it hinders those Avho would profane the truth
from entering, since they find at the threshold all that they desire to
discover in the sanctuary. The literal sense of the Word is the flaming
SAvord that turns every way, by which the cherubim, placed at the
gate of Eden, guard the Avay to the tree of life. The spiritual sense
of the Word is not, like its literal sense, capable of diverse interpreta
tion, and thus of division. Like the Lord's coat it is woven in one
entire and seamless vesture. It may be profaned but cannot be
divided. The spirit of the Word teaches the unity of charity and
faith so clearly, that no human ingenuity can turn its testimony on
..this great matter txside. In an evil age, therefore, ignorance is the only
, security against its profanation, this profanation being the sin against
the Holy Spirit. It is to prevent this that it is withdrawn from the
church at the time of its end. But although withdraAvn, it is not lost,
but is preserved for better times, " it is disposed of bylot." What
men call chance angels caU providence, and providence preseiA-es this
precious treasure inviolate, that it may be brought forth for use under
a new and higher dispensation. " All this was done that the Scripture
might be fulfilled, which saith, they parted ray raiment among them,
and for my vesture they did cast lots.'' These words, which occur in
the 2 2d Psalm, Avere uttered by DaA'id, without any seeming reference
to the Messiah, which shoAvs how completely the Lord's life in the
world was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. David being a type
of the Lord, all that is uttered by, and even all that is recorded of him,
is descriptive of the Being Avhom the king and Psalmist represented.
We cannot reasonably suppose that the Avhole use of the connection be
tAveen the prediction and the event consists in its affording an evidence
ofthe Messiahship of Jesus, but that it was designed to show the divinity
and sphituality of the Word, and to convey a lesson Avorthy of that
book, all whose inspirations are profitable for instruction in righteousness.

Chap. XIX.] ST. JOHN. 469
25-27. From the series of painful circumstances, we turn Avith a
feeling of relief to one of a very different character. Now there stood
by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mury the wife
of Cleophus, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother, and the disciple stcaiding by whom he loved, he saith unto his
mother. Woman, behold thy son I Then saith he to the disciptle.
Behold thy mother I And from find hour that dlscip)le took, her unto
his own home. This beautiful incident is mentioned only by John,
and is singularly in keeping with the character of his gospel. It
breathes the very air of paradise restored, the tender sweetness of
intense but chastened love. The three Christian graces, as we may call
the three Alarys, standing at the foot of the cross under the benign
infiuence of their Saviour, who, even in his great sufferings, is to them
as the sliadoAv of a great rock in a weary land (Isa. xxxii. 2) ! Hoav
deeply affecting to see the Lord, not only while he is suffermg the
pams of death, but the last and greatest of his temptations, acknoAv-
ledgmg and caring for his mother Mary ! Far be it from us to tMnk
that Jesus, as a man, was less human than those who arc nothing more
than raen, — that he was less susceptible of the feelings of our common
nature. An example in all things, he could not be Avanting in filial
tenderness towards her aa'Uo bore him — a tenderness with more than
aU the intensity, but Avith none of the frailtj-, of mere human affection.
It is true that the Gospel contains no instance of Jesus addressing or
speaking of Mary as his mother ; but it is not less true that the in
sphed record of his life calls her so. The Lortl did not call Mary by
that name, because by glorification he had so far ceased to be the sou
of a finite and sinful mother, and had so far become the Son of a divine
and righteous Father, as to render the name of Mother inexpressive of
the nature of his now higMy perfected huraanity. When the Lord on
the cross assigned to the beloved disciple the place he himself once occu
pied in relation to Mary, saying, " Woman, behold thy son !" it was to teach
aU future generations, that love to him and to the neighbour, of which
John was the type, is his representative on earth, and is to be regardetf
by the church as her son ; and when he said to the beloved disciple,.
" Behold thy mother ! " and thus committed Mary to his affectionate-
care, it was to teach aU men that love is to cherish and protect the-
church, as the mother of all living — and those only live whose life is.
love. When it is further recorded, as the fulfilment of this divine
injunction, that " from that hour that disciple took her unto his own.
home," Ave are instructed that Avherever there is love to the Lord, mani--
fested in charity to men, -there the church of the Lord is. If we look

470 ST. JOHN, [Chap, XIX,
•-at this beautiful scene in a more personal and also in a more particular
^vay, we may acquire additional instruction from it. Here are three
Avonien at the cross ; and from the A'ery terms in Avhich they are men-
-tioned Ave may regard them as representing Avoman in her three char
acters of mother, Avife, and daughter, in aU Avhich she has ever beeu
-found, upheld bj' holy fortitude, at the foot of the cross, — sympathizing
with and ministering to the suffering and sorroAving. In the purely
spiritual sense, Ave see in these three women the three celestial affec
tions, the affection of love to the Lord, the affection of mutual love,
and the affection of use resulting from them. Mutual love in the
celestial kingdom is analogous to neighbourly love in the spiritual
kingdom. The difference between them is like the difference between
friendship and sisterly affection. Neighbourly love is like love between
friends, and mutual love is like the love betAveen sisters : aud therefore
Mary the wife of Cleopbas is caUed the sister of Mary the mother
of Jesus.
28-30. Having expressed his last wUl, if Ave may so caU it, hy
Avhich the relation between John and Mary Avas established, and his
church had found a home with the good of love and charity, Jesus
knowing that all things loere noio accomplished, that the scripture miglit
be fulfilled, suifh, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar :
and they filled a spunge with vinegar, und put it upon hyssop), and put it
to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said. It
is finished : and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. TMs pre
diction and its fMfilmfint had a far higher than historical purpose. It
is true that the connection between the prophets aud evangelists is a
testimony to their truth, and shows that the Scriptures Avere Avritten
by divine inspiration. But this was not all the purpose intended to
be answered by the harmony. The events themselves, thus treasured
up in the archives of divine wisdom, are representative of holy states
and things, in which the children of God have a sphitual and eternal
interest. Intolerable thirst was one of the natural results of crucifi.\-
ion ; but he who endured without a murmur aU the other pangs of
this torturing death, could and would have borne this also, had there
not been another cause for his seeking this last aUeviation of Ms suffer
mgs. His was a sphitual or divine thirst — an intense desire for the
salvation of his sinful and perishing creatures. This Avas the thirst he
felt, and which he expressed, that the Scripture might be fulfiUed ; for
Scripture, from beginnmg to end, has for both its subject and its object
the salvation of the human race, the accomplishment of Avhich was the
only purpose of the Incarnation, Jesus had been offered vmegai-

Chap, XIX.] ST. JOHN. 471
mingled with gall (Matt, xxvii. 34) or Avine Avith myrrh (Mark xv. 23),
but he Avould not drink ; but he partook of the vinegar alone ; which
was to represent that, ardently as he desired the salvation of aU men,
yet those in whom error is mingled with evil cannot find acceptance
Avith him ; while aU who are in error without being in evil are received.
WilfM evU, which is sin, alone excludes men from the kingdom of
God; error, unconnected with presumptuous sin, presents no insur
mountable barrier to admission. The reason of this is, that such error
may be supported by the literal sense of the AVord, as the spunge with
the vinegar was on a reed (Matt, xxvii. 48) ; at the same time the
moral precepts of the AVord may be used for purifying the life from evil,
as the reed on AvMch the spunge Avas placed Avas of hyssop : for a reed
signifies the letter of the Word, and hyssop signifies purification.
Errors in religion are generally the result of education ; and in sincerely
rehgious minds reside cliieffy in the memory. And the memory may
be full of errors, as the vessel set before the cross Avas full of vinegar •
and the thoughts may imbibe them frora the .memory, and raise them
in worship to the Lord, as the spunge Avas filled Avith the vinegar and
raised to the Saviour's Ups ; yet if this is done for the purpose of
quenching Ms thirst — of satisfying the desire of his love for their
salvation, — the confessional prayer of the heart being that of the
Psalmist, " AA^ho can understand his errors ? cleanse thou me from
secret faults," such worship will be accepted by Him, Avho looks not
on the outAvard appearance, but on the heart. AVhen Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, " It is finished : and he bowed his
head, and gave up the ghost.'' Hoav much does this divine exclama
tion comprehend ! All Avas accomplished that divine love proposed by
assuming the human nature. The passion of the cross Avas now over,
the sufferings of the Son of man were ended. B-ut uoav was finished
the great work of human redemption, by the subjugation of the
powers of darkness, through tbe last temptation in the passion of the
cross. Now, too, was finished the glorification of the humanity, by
which Jesus had become, in fulness and for ever, God Avith us. Now,
Mso, was finished the dispensation of types and shadoAvs, through
which the faitiifM had looked forAvard to the Messiah, as the fulfil
ment and substance of them all. The great event, for which the
Divine Providence had been preparing aU things, both in the spiritual
and in the natural world, was now accomplished. The seed of the
Avoman had now bruised the serpent's head. In the great conflict, the
serpent's seed had bruised his heel. The mortal which the Saviour
had put on, as necessary to bring him, and aUow Ms divme power to

472 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XIX.
act, within the sphere of his redeeming operation, which was that of
human nature, had fallen in the conflict ; but only to rise again im
mortal ; and, having immortality, Jesus has become the Author of
eternal life to all who come to him through conflict, by which he
has entered into his glory, and Avhich he has made for ever possible
and comparatively easy to all mankind. AVhen Jesus had uttered the
words, "It is finished, he boAved Ms head, and gave up the ghost."
The bowing of the Lord's head was, naturallj' considered, an effect and
a sign of the failing powers of life, Avhich immediately preceded Ms
death ; but his death Avas a voluntary act, and Avas syncMonous with
the laying doAvn of the life of the fraU humanity he inherited, as one
bom of a woman. BoAving his head, sphitually considered, Avas a sign
of the complete humUiation of the humanity, by AvMch we mean the
extinction of all its hereditary Ufe as the ground of temptation — the
complete cessation of all the natural or hereditary lUe of Ms maternal,
as opposed to that of Ms paternal, humanity. TMs was also mdi
cated by his yielding up the spirit, with this difference, that bow
ing his head signified the extinction of the life of the avUI, and the
yielding up the spirit signified the extinction of the life of the under
standing, or of all the voluntary and inteUectual life of the maternal
humanity. 31-37. Having recorded the death of Jesus, John now relates two
particMars respecting his dead body, which none of the other evan
gelists have noticed. The Jews therefore, because it was the pre
paration, thcd the bodies should not remain upan the cross on the
Sabbcdh-day (for that Sabbath-day was an high day), besought Pilate
that their legs might be broken, and thcd they might be taken away.
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other
which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw
that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: hut one of the
soldiers ¦with a spear pierced his side, und forthwith came thereout
blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is
true; and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For
these things were done, that the scripture should he fulfilled, A hone of
him shall not he broken. And again another scripture saith, They
shall look on Mm ¦whom they pierced. The use that is made of one
at least of the incidents, aud the almost universal recognition of its
symbolical character, shoAv how much we have gained by its having
found a place in the inspired page. The Jews' scrupulous attention
to ceremonials comes into painful contrast with the moral character of
their proceedings in relation to Jesus. They had stahied their con

Ch.\p. XIX.] ST. JOHN, 473
science with the blood of Jesus, but scrupulously guarded the cere
monial sanctity of the sabbath. According to the laAv of Aloses the
body of any one hanged must not remain all night upon the tree, but
must iu any wise be buried that day, that the land be not defiled
(Deut. xxi. 23). This strict injunction was given to prevent what
Avould have been a symbol of eternal death, Avliich the remaining of
the body all Mght upon the tree, and unburied, Avould have presented.
It was, no doubt, of the divine Providence, as Avell as JcAvish scrupul
ousness, that in the Lord's case the law shoMd be observed, so that he
Avho was the resurrection and the life, might not be subjected to what
would have represented the opposite of resurrection and life eternal.
TMs laAV is not mentioned as the reason of the Jews' request to PUate,
although it is understood to be included in it. They feared the
desecration of the sabbath, especially that which occurred during the
passover, and AA'as therefore an high day. That the Lord's death
should have taken place at the time of the passover, and that Ms body
should not hang upon the cross but lie in a sepulchre on the sab
bath-day, were chcumstances that orginated in higher reasons than
any AvMch entered into tbe calculation of the Jews. The passover,
Avhicli coramemorated Israel's deliverance from Egypt, typified the
Lord's Redemption, and the s.abbath, as the rest which succeeded
the six days of creation, represented the Lord's Glorification ; and
these two events, redemption and glorification, though distinct, were
completed together. It Avas to prevent the bodies remaining on the
cross during the sabbath that led to the incidental circumstances
respecting the Lord's body, which John has so carefully recorded, as
the fulfilment of two predictions. The first was, " that a bone of him
shoMd not be broken." As a verbal prophecy this is found in the
Psalms : " He keepeth aU his bones : not one of them is broken "
(xxxiv. 20) ; but it is to be traced to the law respecting the paschal
lamb: "neither shalt thou break a bone thereof" (Exod, xh. 46),
TMs statement of John shows how clearly the gospel recognises the
typical character of the Old Testament; for neither text has any
seemmg allusion to the Messiah. And yet, but for this, why shoMd
such a law have been enacted respecting the paschal lamb as, that no
bone thereof shoMd be broken? But it is still more important to
inquhe, why a bone of the Lamb of God should not be broken.
F'or we cannot suppose that the event had no other end than to verify
the prediction. Both the prediction and the exceptional circumstance
it represented, had a divine and spiritual meaning. It Avas permitted
that Jesus should be scourged and crucified, and that his garments

474 ST. JOHN, [Chap, XIX,
should be rent in pieces, but it was provided that a bone of him
should not be broken. The Jews, we have seen, acted towards the
Lord in a manner corresponding to that in which they had acted
toAvards his Word. The request of the Jews, after they had crucified
the Lord, that his legs might be broken, expressed, symbolically, the
desire of the Jcavs, after they had destroyed all the higher prmciples
of the AVord, that they might break, and thus dissipate and destroy,
.all its ultimate jirinciples also, these being represented by the legs and
the bones. That the Jews, or the JeAvish church, had destroyed these
ultimate principles, as the foundation of religion, in themselves, is
meant by the legs of the tAvo avIio were crucified with Jesus bemg
broken. Ultimate principles are those on Avhich higher principles rest
as on their foundation ; and if the foundations are destroyed, righteous
ness has no poAver, nor can it continue even to exist.
It was to put on humanity iu its ultimate degree that the Lord
came into this world, where humanity exists iu its most ultimate
condition, as well as in its most degraded state ; for by doing so, his
assumed humanity included human nature as it exists in all other
worlds, so that he can indeed save to the uttermost. In consequence
of the bones representing the very ultimate principles of humamty,
the Lord, after his resurrection, spoke of his bones, as one of the (Ustm-
guishing marks of his actual and absolute humaMty, when he said,
" A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." It is for the
same reason that the Lord himself is called a foundation and chief
corner-stone ; for the humanity he assumed is the basis on which the
spiritual universe rests. When heaven and the church are considered
as constituting together the Grand Man, the church on earth, as com
pared Avitli the church in heaven, is as the bones corapared with the
flesh ; and when the Lord spoke of his humanity as consisting of flesh
and bones, or as having these two constituent parts of the human
frame, he spoke of himself as being Man as man exists both in heaven
and the church, and in the spiritual and neural Avorlds. WhUe it was
divinely provided, that, contrary to the usual custom, and exception
in the present case, a bone of Jesus should not be broken, it Avas also
provided, or permitted, that, contrary to the usual custom, his side
should be pierced with a spear, and that thereout should come blood
and Avater. In regard to the Jews, this act represented violence offered
to, and rejection of, the Lord as the Word. The blood and water that
flowed from the Lord's side denote divme truth spiritual and natural,
thus the Word in its spiritual and natural truths ; and to pierce the
Lord's side is to destroy both by falsities, of which a spear is emble-

Chap, XIX.] ST, JOHN, 475
matical. But, AA'hUe these acts are evU in those avIio do them, iu
respect to the Lord himself they are good ; for he turns evil into the
means of good. The blood and the water that floAved from his cruci
fied body, are the symbols of the spirit of goodness and trutii that flow
from his gloiifled body, for the purification and stdvation of men;
and AA'hich proceed from his divine love, meant by his breast. It is
almost universally recognised among Christians that this part of
the Lord's history is symbolical — that the blood Avhich he shed
upon the cross Avas a sign of the shedding of blood Avithout
which there is no remission ; but it is too often understood as
a sign to us, that God regarded that blood as spilt to satisfy the de
mands of offended justice, and that sins are remitted through faith in
the blood of the all-atoning sacrifice of the Son of Man. True it is
that Avithout the shedding of the Lord's blood there Avould have been
no remission of sin ; for Avithout the passion of the cross, AA'hen the
Lord's blood Avas shed, and which it means, there would have been no
redemption or salvation, because no conquest of the poAvers of darkness,
aud no glorification of the Lord's Humanity ; therefore, no reconcilia
tion of man to God in the person of the Lord. But the blood Avhich
purifies from sin is that Avhich the Lord's natural blood represented ;
the divine trutii Avhich flows in a living stream from the bosom of
infinite love, and makes men clean by being received into the heart
and understanding, and washing them from Avickedness, and by being
made to flow from the heart into the life in acts of holy living. Oii',i
statement which John makes respecting himself requires to be noticed.
He assures us of the truth of what he relates, on the testimony of him
seU as au eye-witness. He saw and bare record, and he knoweth that
he saith true. And in this the Spirit from Avhich he wrote gives us
this lesson, that if we avouM see spiritually Avhat John saAv naturall3!-^
and came no doubt to see spiritually also, we must be in John's state
of mind ; we must see from love ; for he was the apostle of love, and
represented that highest of Christian graces. AA^lien Ave attain this
state we also shall knoAv from perception the truths Avhich these facts
contain, and believe them with the heart.
38-40. And after this, Josepli of Arimathea, (being a disciple of
Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews,) besought Pilate that he might
tuke awuy the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leare. He came
therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus,
(which cd the first came to Jesus by night,) and brought a mixture of
myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the
body of Jesus, aud wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the

476 .ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIX.
manner of the Jews is to bury. The circumstances related in these verses
are recorded in all the gospels : the receiving of the Lord's body from
Pilate and laying it in the tomb. The other three evangelists state that
this was done by Joseph of Arimathea ; John mentions that Joseph Avas
joined in the pious duty by Nicodemus — both secret disciples of the
Lord. These represented the good and the faithful in the old church,
Avho are instruments in the Lord's hands for preserving the truth from
profanation, and for passing it to its resting-place, preparatory to its
resurrection, and its reception and acknowledgment by the new church.
Burial has tAvo opposite significations. It ahvays, indted, signifies
resurrection, but it may signify either resurrection unto lUe or resur
rection unto condemnation. As the Lord's burial signified resurrection
unto life in the most eminent sense, it was necessary for its representa
tive character and spiiitual metxning, that he should be buried by the
pious hands of believing friends, and not by the impious hands of un
believing enemies. It Avas suitable that his enemies should crucify
him ; it Avas necessary that his friends should bury Mm. John men
tions that Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an
hundred pound Aveight, Avith which the body was embalmed. These
Avere analogous to the bitter herbs Avith Avbich the paschal lamb Avas
serA'ed. Sp)ices are significant of affections and perceptions ; sweet
spices of joyful affections and grateful perceptions ; bitter spices of that
state of affection and perception which in the Word is caUed bitterness
of soul (1 Sam. i. 10) ; Avlien divine trutii is indeed the object of per
ception and affection, but there is yet bitterness of soul mingled Avith
the gratefulness of perception and the tenderness of love, because the
soul mourns over the Avant or loss of, or the violence that has been
done to the truth. Bitterness in spices is like the fear that is in love,
before perfect love has cast out fear. In the p)resent case, bitter spices
Avere used. These were very suitable to be used in embalming ; for
here there is sorrow, even when death is vieAved in its proper light, but
not sorrow as of those Avho have no hope ; sorrow and hope are mingled
— sorrow for our loss, hope for their gain. And these were provided in
all fulness, for the spices Avere about an hundred pound weight.
Joseph of Arimathea procured the body, and Nicodemus brought the
spices. Joseph represented those Avho are principled m the good of
love, and Nicodemus represented those who are prmcipled in the truths
of faith. Nicodemus Avas he Avho Avent to Jesus by night, and had,
therefore, been instructed by the Lord hiraself iu the truth, especially
hi that relating immediately to regeneration. While Joseph procured
the body of Jesus, which is the divine goodness, Nicodemus buys the

Chap. XIX.] ST, JOHN; 477
spices, which signify tbe perceptions of truth. In regard to the indi
vidual disciple, tbey represent the wiU and the understanding, and the
good and truth which belong to them, by which the Lord is received.
AVhen the two disciples had made these preparations, " Then took they
the body of Jesus, aud wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as
the manner of the Jews is to bury." The body of Jesus is the divme
good of the Lord, deprived, by the members of the perverted church,
of aU the Ufe of love ; but received and cherished by the loving and
faithful, Avho have been preserved in. the corrupt church unknown to
itself, for these were secret disciples. But those who receive the
divine good of the Lord receive it in truth, with which they invest it.
Good is from the Lord himself, truth is from the written Word. Good
is from within, tmth is from without. The linen clothes, which these
pious disciples wound about the body of Jesus, represented the truth
in Avhioh the faithful receive the good which the church has rejected
or destroyed, so far as regards itself Fine Imen is the righteousness
of saints (Rev. xix. 8). Righteousness is truth reduced to practice ;
and such is the truth into which the disciples receiA'e the Lord's divine
good, and preserve it, and prepare it for resurrection into new life in
the heart. The two disciples, in embalming the body of Jesus, fol
lowed the custom of the Jews. The customary forms and ceremonies
of the Jews m burying, represented the means of resurrection. In
reference to the Lord's Humanity aud its glorification, this act of the
two earnest disciples has an important meaning. The funeral rites
performed by these pious men were not peculiar, but were customary
marks of affection offered by the living to the dead. Descending from
them of old time, these rites were representative, unknown as this
might be to those who used them. The preservation of the natural
body by anomtmg and embalming, represented the preservation of the
sphitual body, by means of the graces and virtues, of which the oint
ments and unguents were symbolical. All the rites of the Jewish
church had reference to the Lord. Anointing and embalming were
singularly suitable and highly significant in the case of him whose very
title Avas the Anointed, and of whom it Avas promised that he, as the
Holy One, should not see corruption. It is not to be supposed that
the hasty embalming of the Lord's body was the means of saving
it from corruption ; it was a natural sign, proAidentially supplied,
of that embalming and anomting, which the Lord's Humanity
received from his divinity. The ointment and the spices by
which the Lord's body was really embalmed, were the divine love
aud wisdom, the communication of them by the Divmity to the

478 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIX,
humanity having been that by Avhich the humanity became divine.
The spices with Avhich the Lord's body Avas anointed were pecMiarly
appropriate in his case, for the glorification of his humanity, to the very
ultimate, was on the eve of its completion, by his rising frora the dead in
a glorious body, and the myrrh and aloes were symbolical of the affec
tions of good and truth Avhich belonged to the sensuous and corporeal
principles of his humanity, and AvMch pertain to those in Avhose affec
tions the Lord is embalmed, even AA'hen he is rejected and crucified by
the Avoiid aud the church. In reading of the embalming of the Lord's
body by the Iavo devoted disciples, we may connect it with that piart of
the forty-fifth Psalm, which is universally allowed to be prophetic of the
Lord. "AU thy garments smell of myrrh aud aloes and cassia, out of
the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad." Here, indeed,
the Lord is described not in Ms humiliation but ia his glory, not in his
crucified but in his glorified body, not attended by two secret disciples,
but by kings' daughters, while on his right hand stands the queen in
gold of Ophir. But iii this celebration of the union of the Lord with
his church, his marriage garments smell of myrrh and aloes, but with
the addition of cassia, Avhich was not used in the erabalmmg of his
body. Cassia Avas the most precious of the spices, which entered into
the composition of the holy ointment Avith Avhich the tabernacle with
all its contents, and Aaron and his sons, were anointed (Exod xxii).
Representing inmost truth, which proceeds immediately from good,
it enters into and exalts the Ioav degrees of truth, which are meant
by myrrh and aloes, and, combined with them, forms the inmost of
that trinity of celestial, spiritual, and natural, which, as it exists infinitely
in the Lord and his Word, exists finitely in heaven and the church.
41. Now -in the place where he wus crucified there was a garden : and
in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. Liter
ally, the garden was not in, but near, the place where the Lord was
crucified. But iu a higher than the literal sense, the place of resurrec
tion is not only near, but in, the place of crucifixion. This is the case
at least with those who obtain the resurrection from the dead.
To them death is the gate of life ; it closes the senses of the body
to the world, and opens the senses of the soul to heaven. To the
righteous the death of the body is the last of a series of acts, by Avhich
the life of the natural man is laid doAvn, aud the life of the spiritual
man is taken up. Yet let us remember that it is only those who foUoAv
the Lord who can mtike it so, because he has made it for them. He has
opened up a passage from the cross to the kingdom, making the scene
of suffering the scene of triumph. " In the place where he was crucified

Chap. XIX.] ST. JOHN. 47:)
there was a garden." From the place of a skull, tbe ghastly emblem of
death, where the cross Avas set up, to the garden, the bright emblem
of lUe, Avhere the sepulchre Avas hewn, and Avhere the resurrection took
place, there Avas but one step. In the garden, thus near to the cross,
there was a new sepulchre, Avhere was never mau yet laid. Hoav signi
ficant is this ! A sepulchre is emblematical of resurrection, and that
in which the Lord Avas to be laid was ucav, in which no man had been
ever laid, to represent the great truth that the Lord Avas the first iu
Avhom humanity Avas raade new. He Avas the first fruits of them that
slept, not of them that slept the sleep of natural death, but of them
that slept the sleep of spiritual death, frora which death the Lord
came to deliver mankind. He was the Resurrection and the Life.
"No man hath ascended up into heaven save he Avhich came
down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."
The Lord was the first who ever obtained the resurrection from
the death which sin had introduced, Avhich death Avas spiritual.
Sphitual death had passed upon all men, for that all had sinned.
The death of the body Avas not tbe result of the fall. Man was not
created to live in this world for ever ; nor was the body, when it has
returned to its dust, designed to be restored to life again. Natural
death was originaUy designed to be the gate of life ; and to imfallen
man it was so. In those happy times bodily dissolution v/as not, and
ooidd not, be regarded as death, but only as the falling doAvn of the
prison waUs, or the dissolving of the tabernacle, of this body, that the
soul, released from its earthly tenement, might find "an house not
made with hands eternal in the heavens." It was only when men
became earthly and sensual, aud loved this world in preference to
heaven as their home, that they regarded the end of this present life
as death. And this death of the natural body even Christians have
come to regard as the curse of sin ; deliverance frora Avhich they have
come to regard as that which was purchased for them by the Lord's
resurrection. The death from which the Lord came to deliver his
people is spiritual and eternal death, or the death of sin. He alone
can deliver from this death.
42. There lend they Jesus therefore, becuuse of the Jews' preparcdion-
day ; for the sepulchre was nigh at ha-nd. The burial of the Lord was
effected in haste. It was on account of the near approach of the Jews'
preparation-day that the tAvo pious disciples hurriedly conveyed the
sacred body of the Lord, which they embalmed, to the nearest sepulchre.
There is some resemblance in this to the haste in which the passover
was to be eaten, and m which the Israelites were sent out of the land

''.so ST. JOHN. [Chap. XIX.
of Egypt (Exod. xii. 11, 33), .Haste is expressive of affection ; for all
haste arises from some afi'ection being excited ; and in the case of the
Israelites, haste in eating the passover, and in leaving the land of their
bondage, signified the affection of separation from those who infest. So
the haste Avith Avhich Joseph and Nicodemus removed the crucified
body of Jesus, and laid it m the tomb, expressed the affection of re
moving and separating the diA'ine Truth from those who had destroyed
it in themselves, aud had left it to be cast out as vile and accursed.
By these disciples the body of Jesus Avas hastily buried, but with all
the pious care and observances Avhich the brief space of time at their
disposal allowed. But this very haste, while in itself significative of
the earnest desire of the pious to separate the Lord's hoi}' Truth from
the hands of the impious, was the occasion of providing for the Lord's
body the new tomb in which it was laid : for the sepulcMe was nigh
fit hand. The place where the Lord Avas crucified was the emblem of
death ; the place Avhere he was buried was the emblem of lUe. Life is
nigh unto death, and even heaven is nigh uuto heU ; and yet they are
separated by a great gulf. The Lord was the first who passed that
gulf, and made it possible for his creatures to pass from death unto
life, and even from hell into heaven. This thej' can do whUe they are
inhabitants of this preparatory Avorld, not after they have passed into
eternity, where, as the tree has faUen, so must it for ever lie. The day
in which the Jews made their preparations for the celebration of the
passover, was also the day in AA'hich another and higher preparation
was being made for the resurrection of the Lord, as the Conqueror of
death aud the grave, and as the Author of eternal salvation to aU who
die unto sin aud live unto righteousness. But between the burial and
resurrection of the Lord were to intervene three days and nights, that
prophetic period of the Lord's remaining m the heart of the earth.
"The earth with her bars was about him" (Jonah U. 6); and to the
disconsolate disciples it seemed as U it were to be " for ever." After
this mysterious slumber, the Saviour was to arise in his strength.
This they knew not yet. And now the two disciples baling per
formed their pious work, have left the "Prince of LUe" under the
dominion of death. The night, which covered the darkest day that ever
fell upon the world, was now closing around them ; and they left the
sepulchre as men who had performed the last duty of gratitude and
love to One they expected to see no more, but Avhose end was iuA'olved
in mystery, Avhicb they could not yet understand. The night with its
darkness had fallen upon them ; the new day, which was to shed its light
upon aU that now perplexed and oppressed them, had not yet dawned.

Chap, XX.] ST. JOHN. 481

CHAPTER XX.
We have passed over with as much brevity as possible the painfM
history of the Lord's cruel treatment and crucifixion, the more espe
ciaUy as, in its main features, it is given in all the gospels, and has already
been explained as it appears in the gospel by St. Matthew. We
noAV come to the bright, glorious, and hope-inspiring event of the
Lord's resurrection, and the tender and instructive incidents connected
Avith it.
1. The first day ofthe week cometh Mary Magdalene early, -when it
was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken awuy from
the sepulchre. The dawn of the first day of completed redemption and
glorification had succeeded the three days ami three nights during
wMch the Son of man had lain in the heart of the earth. Early,
Avheu it Avas yet dark, cometh Mary ilagdalene unto the sepulchre.
Purified seven tiraes, the soul of Mary clung to her Saviour, and,
prompted by the love which casteth out fear, bent her footsteps in the
dim tAvUight to the tomb Avhere she had seen him laid, that she might
perform the last duties of pious affection to Ms crucified body. It is
in keepmg with the character of John and of Ms gospel that Mary
of Alagdala is mentioned alone as having come first to the sepulchre.
Although she is here mentioned alone, this does not exclude the idea
that others might be Avith her, according to the testimony of Matthew
and Alark. Indeed, the presence of one or more com2Daiiions is implied
in the words of Mary to the two disciples. " They have taken aAvay
the Lord, and we knoAv not where they have laid him." But Ave infer
it was the object of John, or of the Spirit which guided Mm, to speak
of Mary Magdalene only as having come to the sepulchre. John is
the apostle of love, and his gospel describes the activity of that grace,
as directed to the Lord as Avell as to man. Mary Magdalene was the
type of the purest, because most fully purified, love, that of which the
Lord the Saviour is the supreme Object, the love of Mm as Love,
AVhen Mary came, she saw that the stone was taken aAvay from the
sepulchre. The sepulchre where the Lord was entombed represented the
Word, so far as it describes his states of humiliation, and the stone
which was placed against its mouth symbolized the outward natural
sense, which encloses the inward spiritual meaning. Mary as yet knew
the Lord only in his unglorifietl humanity, as perceived by the natural
senses, as apprehended by the natural mind. To those hke Mary the
Lord's divinity shone through Ms maternal humanity ; but it was oMy
2 H

482 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XX.
seen as through a glass darkly. The Lord had now put off aU his
maternal humanity, and had risen in a glorified Divine Body, therefore
the stone was removed from the mouth of tlie sepulchre, and the
interior laid open. In the simple, historical sense, the stone, we are
led to infer, Avas removed by the angel Avho descended from heaven, to
admit of the Lord's resurrection. But this could not be necessary for
the going forth of one A\'ho now, at least, had aU poAver in heaveu and
on earth, and who appeared in the midst of his disciples Avhile the
doors Avere shut. The stone AA'as not removed for his sake, but for
that of his disciples, to alloAV them to see into and to enter the sepulchre,
aud to instruct us that tbe glorification and resurrection of the Lord
opened the Word in its inner sense, so as to allow of the disciples
entering into its inner meanings, the inmost of wMch relates to the
Lord, and describes his glorMcation. The testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy, and the Avhole AVord, m its inmost sense, is prophetic
of him.
2. The first effect of seeing into the sepulchre AA'as disappointment
aud alarm. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the
other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them. They have taken .
away fhe Lord out of the sepulchre, and -we know not -where they have
laijl him. Every transition state is one of uncertaintj' and anxiety.
Old things are passed aAvay, but all things are not yet become new.
There is a blank in our sphitual existence. The night is mdeed past,
and a new day has daAvned, and the day-star has arisen m the heart,
and the affections are induced to seek the Lord ; but it is yet dark to the
understanding, which has obtained no clear perception of the risen
truth. That singular state has oome Avhich was predicted hy
the prophet, one day which shaU be knoAvn to the Lord, not day
nor night, when the light shall not be clear nor dark, but at the even
ing-time there shaU be light (Zech. xiv. 6, 7). Such is the state of
mmd represented by that of Mary when she came to the sepMcMe.
In her disappointment at not finding the body of the Lord, her fhst
impulse was to run to Simon Peter and to the other thsciple whom
Jesus loved. This running was the effect of the mtensity of Alary's
feelmgs, and is a symbol of the state of mind of those whom Mary
represented — who do not, in the heaviest trials, stand stUl m stupefied
amazement, but hasten to seek relief where they expect it is to be
found. Mary's running and coming to Peter and John describes how
the mmd, under the strong impMse of its best affection, seeks to awaken
into activity the dormant faith and charity, which the tAvo stricken
disciples represented. Mary addresses to them the desponding words,

Chap. XX.] ST. JOHN. 483
" They have taken aAvay the Lord out of the sepulchre, and Ave knoAv
not Avhere they have laid him." In the time of the end, Avhen the
Lord is crucified m the church, by hatred aud practical denial of his
truth, those fcAV who have received him as their Saviour are subjected
to heavy tritxls. The darkening of the Sun of righteousness, like that
of the sun of this Avorld at the time of the crucillxiou, casts a gloom
over the minds even of the faithful. They still, indeed, cling to the
Lord, and desire to embalm him in their best affections. But, Avliile
desiring to perform this pious office, they seek him Avhere he is not to
be found — in the sepMcMe, Avhich, although it represents the AVord,
represents it as it relates to the Lord's humiliation — and more remotely
to Ms glorMcation. "He is not here, he is risen." But as yet, the
faithfM tMnk his enemies have taken him aAvay. The Lord's own
teacMng, that he woMd be crucified, and AvoMd rise from the dead the
third day, is, Avith aU else that is hopefrd, forgotten. The state of the
disciples, at this period of their history, is, in some respects, common
both to the believer and the unbeliever. The Lord dies to the right
eous as well as to the Avicked. But there is tMs great difference iu
favour of the righteous : although the Lord is crucified in them, he is
not crucified by thera ; aud, as a consequence, the Lord rises in the
righteous, but not in the wicked. AVhether Ave say that, in the right
eous, the Lord is crucified and dies, or that the old man is crucified and
dies, it amounts to the same ; for that which died in the Lord is that
AvMch (Ues also in the disciples. The frail humaMty must lay doAvn
its lUe, and be buried, that the glorified humanity may rise, in its
trae life aud power, iu the heart. The empty sepulcMe signifies the
enthe removal of the Lord's tmth, as the object of natural apprehen
sion, and a state of spiritual devastation, Avhen nothing remains for the
mmd to rest upon. Thus it is the total removal from the mind of
aU that is old, to prepare it for the reception of aU that is ncAV.
3, 4. When Mary had imparted to thom this seemingly sad mteUi-
gence, Peter therefore went forth, und thcd other disciple, und came te
the sepulchre. So they run both together: and the other disciple did'
imtrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre Faith and love, roused.
mto activity, go forth from theh rethement in the mind, where they
have been brooding over their loss, and betake themselves to the
Word, that they may examine and ascertain for themselves, whether
those who have deprived the truth of its hfe have taken it away like
wise. The munmg of the disciples, like that of Mary, indicates intense
deshe. The fact of John outmnnmg Peter, aud coming first to the
sepMcMe, may mdeed be naturally accounted lor from his comparative

484 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XX.
youthfulness, but it no less significantly expresses the comparative
energy and activity of that grace which he represents. Love outruns
faith, and is primary in aU that relates to regeneration, as John was
iioAv first at the sepulchre, — first as to time signUying Mst as to state.
5-8. And he, stooping down, and looking -in, saw the linen clothes
lying; yet went he not in. Tlien cometh Simon Peter following him,
and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the
nuplcin, that was about Ms head, not lying with the linen clothes, but
¦wrapped together in a pluce by itself. Then went vn cdso that otlier
disciple, which cume first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
John's stooping down is expressive of humUity. Stoopmg here is not,
boAvever, that kind of bowing down which is a sign of worship, but is
a reverential and earnest looking into ; and in two of the other three
places iu the New Testament in which the word occurs (Jas. i. 25,
1 Pet. i 12) it is so rendered. Spiritually, it means reverential in
vestigation and contemplation. Of the two acts, " stooping down,"
describes an act of the will, and " looking into," describes an act of the
understanding. In agreement with the view, that John's gospel
describes acts done from the will, and thus from the deepest ground
of affection, John is the one who is here said to have stooped doAvn ;
while in Luke (xxiv. 12) this act is ascribed to Peter, who alone is
there spoken of as having come to the sepulcMe. Our deepest
humUity and most earnest looking for the Lord are from love. When
love is powerfully active it takes the precedence of faith. The Lord
becomes to us, for the time, an object of affection rather than of
thought ; Ms image is imprinted on the heart rather than upon the
understanding. Such is, mdeed, the case Avhenever the feelings are
greatly excited. And in what circumstances can we conceive them to
.-¦be more powerfully excited than in such as correspond to those m
which Peter and John were now placed ? If there is joy in heaven
over a lost sinner found, what must be the joy of an earnest and
loving soul over the finding of a lost Saviour ? Nothmg less is the
.subject of this beautUul narrative. When the mmd is awakened
from deep despondency to high hopes, no wonder that m pursuing the
desired object love comes first to the sepulchre. But thought comes
.betimes to the aid of feeling, as Peter did to John. And reflective
thought does what excited feeling does not ; it enters into and ex
amines minutely what feeling had oMy discovered, as Peter entered
into the sepulchre, which John had first reached, and into which he
had looked, but did not enter. And it discovers particMars and
distmctions which feeling has not attended to, as Peter saw the Imen

Chap. XX.] ST. JOHN, 485
clothes lie, and the napkin wrapped together, in a place by itself
The particulars here recorded have an instructive spiritual meaning ;
but there is one point of a more doctrinal character which may use
fully engage our attention first. The finding in the sepulcMe of the
linen clothes in which the body of Jesus had been wrapped, while a
proof that the body had not, as the Jews asserted, been stolen away,
or otherwise removed by mortal hands, is evidence of another very
important fact. It shows that the Lord's body, at the resurrection,
Avas no longer material. When Lazarus was called from the tomb, he
came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes, his face bound
about -with a napkin ; and not till the Lord had commanded them
to loose him and let him go, was he set at hberty and able to move
about freely. When the Lord at his resurrection left behind him in
the sepulchre the linen clothes which had been wound round Ms body,
and even the napkin which was about his head, is it not an evident
proof that the body in which he rose was not of the same substance
as the body that had been buried ? The spiiitual lesson we learn from
the Imen clothes being left in the sepulchre, relates to the Lord's glori
fication aud to our own regeneration. These clothes are emblematical
of the truths of the Word which testify of Jesus. The clothes that
had been about his body are the truths of its spiritual sense, and the
napkin that had been about his head is the truth of its celestial sense.
These tmths testify that the Lord glorified his humanity, both as to
what is spiritual and as to what is celestial, so that both his spiritual
kingdom and his celestial kingdom are included in his divme work.
His humanity was glorified in all its degrees, from the higliest to the
lowest, or from the inmost to tbe outermost ; so that the napkin aud
linen clothes testify of Mm, in his glorified humanity, as the First and the
the Last, the Beginning and the End. By this the Lord became the
Saviour or Regenerator, both of the celestial and the sphitual. These,
and the means of their regeneration, are distinct, and the distinction
Avas more fuUy manifested when our Lord came into the Avorld, and
effected redemption, and. the glorification of his humanity. This is
described by several signs, and among them by the napkm being
found in the sepulchre, not with the linen clothes, but wrapped to
gether in a place by itself When Peter had examined the sepMchre
and seen the disposition of the grave clothes, " then went in also that
other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and
believed." John was first at the sepulchre, but Peter was the first to
enter it. Love is the most rapid in its motions and quickest in its
discernment, but faith is most active in its investigations. So we find

486 ST. JOHN, [Chap. XX".
that John came tc the sepulchre and looked in, and after Peter had
.'gone into the sepulcMe and examined it, John also went in and saw
what Peter had found. When faith, or the understanding, has entered
into a subject, and satisfied itself that it is as has been revealed, then
love, or the wiU, enters also, and sees and believes. The faith of the
understanding then becomes the faith of the avUI likewise, and when
this is the case faith is complete.
9. But what Peter and John noAV believed was only Avhat Mary
had told them, that the Jews had taken aAvaj- the Lord's body. No
thought occurred to them of that which the state of the sepulchre
might have suggested ; for as yet they knew not fhe Scripture, thcd
¦tie must rise agcdn from the dead. Belief and hope Avere uoav
wore than ever depressed. The object of theh faith was both dead
-and borne away. The anchor of their hope had lost its last hold,
and their fraU bark Avas now tossed on the troubled sea, and they
themselves without the poAver and almost without the disposition to
guide it. But he AA'hom they uoav, in the hour of darkness, supposed
to be gone for ever, Avas Avith them, and within them, upholdmg
them in their great tribulation, and leading them by a way which they
kneAV not to the desired haven. Who can fail to see in this the ex
perience of the Christian disciple in the great trial of his faith and
love, Avhen passing from death unto life.
10. AVhen they had thus seen an end of all their hopes, then fhe
disciples went away again unto their own home. What is here
rendered their oavu home, and which no doubt implies it, is, literally,
themselves, their oavu. Understood spiritually, how expressive is this
of the state of the Christian disciple now represented. When his
mind has been awakened from a state of stupor iuto one of intense
action, only to be convinced of its loss, he returns into himself, re
lapses into his former state, only more hopeless than before.
11, 12. But Mary stood without cd the sepulchre weeping : and, as
she wept, she stooped down, und looked into the sepulchre, and seeth
two angels in white sitting, the one at the heud, and the other at the
feet, where the body of Jesus had lean. The sepulchre presents an
entirely new scene to Mary to that which it presented to the two dis-
cijiles. These angelic messengers were the first to announce to Mary,
and through her to the church, that the Lord had risen, and there is
reason to believe that this Avas one object, at least, of their mission.
But is it not reasonable also to suppose that their appearance had yet
another purpose, and an edifying meaning? They did not appear
to Peter and John. AVhy Avas not the resurrection thus made

Chap. XX.] ST. JOHN. 187
known to them 1 Divine wisdom appointed otherwise ; and we may
reasonably conclude that some special purpose was to be answered
by the chcumstance recorded. Let us look at the subject as a spir
itual lesson, and connected with that already considered. Althouch
the mind, -with its love and faith, has relapsed into its former state
of hopeless inactivity, stUl the inmost affection of goodness in the
heart retains its A-itality and -u'akefulness, and lingers near the centre
of its attraction, as Alary lingered near the tomb. Still suffering from
the sorrow of her great privation, Mary weeps. Weeping is expressive
of the deepest sorrow, and godly sorrow is the misery arising from the
sense of being deprived of goodness and truth, of him avIio is Goodness
itself and Truth itself. But Alary, while she weeps, stoops down and
looks into the sepulchre, and sees tAvo angels seated Avhere the body of
Jesus had lain. Previously the linen clothes only had been seen, noAv
two angels appear. The linen clothes are the truths of the Word as
dead knowledges ; the angels signify the truths of the AA'"ord as living
principles ; and these living truths relate also to what is highest
and lowest m the first and in the last states in our Lord's glorification,
and of man's regeneration. One was at the head and the other was at
the feet ; and they were seated, for this jtosture is expressive of an
interior aud confirmed state, by reception inthe will. These living
traths excite reflections and produce convictions Avhicli mere knoAv-
ledges could but remotely suggest.
13. These living truths appeal directly to the mind, and excite reflec
tions as to the cause of its tribulation and sorroAv. The angels suy
unto her, Womcai, uliy weepest thou ? To knoAV why we weep, and
to be called upon from heaven to giA'e a reason for our sorroAv, are two
different thirgs. They have also two different results ; for all heaveMy
searchings of the heart are designed, and have a tendency, to lead to
self-examination, and to conviction and elevation of mind. To the
question of the angels, Mary replies in the words she had addressed to
the disciples. Because they have tuken away my Lorcl, and I know not
where they have laid Mm. Alary now calls Jesus my Lord, expressing
a nearer and dearer connection with him ; feeling him to be her Savi
our, and, therefore, feeling her own need of salvation ; but, as yet, see
ing neither her Deliverer, nor the prospect of her deliverance from sin
and sorroAv.
14. But this which has taken place leads to a conversion of the
mind. And when she had thus scad, she turned herself back, and saw
Jesus sfariding, and knew not that it was Jesus. IMary's turning her
self back was not, AVC venture to think, so much a result of Avhat the

488 ST. JOHN, [Chap, XX.
angels had said, as of what the Lord, Avho stood belimd her, did : it
was more the result of his influence than of their words. The Lord
turns the loving Mary to himself It is recorded by John (Rev. i. 12),
that he heard a voice behind him, and he turned to see the voice that
spake with Mm, The back of the head, where the lesser bram is, corres
ponds to theAvill, and the face, where the larger brain is, corresponds to the
understanding. The meaning of John's record is this, that the divine in
fluence first enters into and affects the Avill, the more immediate organ of
Avhich is the ear, and, through the will, enters into the understanding, the
more immediate organ of Avhich is the e.ye : and when anything affects
a man's wUl, he turns his understanding to see or understand it.
When Mary turned herself back, she turned herseU to the Lord, whose
influence she felt. But although he now stood before her, she did
not recognise him. She knew not that it was Jesus. She yet wanted
the discernment to recognise him through the veU which her oavu state
had draAA'ii between herself and her SaA'iour.
15. The Lord addresses Mary in the Avords of the angels, Wo
man, why weepest thou? but he adds. Whom seekest thuu? The
question, as asked by the Lord, is from a deeper ground m our oavu
consciousness than as asked by the angels ; leading therefore to a more
interior perception of the cause of sorrow, and to a profounder humilia
tion on account of it. But when the Lord adds another question,
AVhom seekest thou ? the mind is directed, not only to the person of
the Saviour, but to all that constitutes his character, and to the great
ness of the loss, under a sense of which the mind so deepl.v soitoavs,
and for the recovery of what it so ardently desires. But Alary kuew
not by Avliom these questions Avere addressed to her. She, supposing
him to he the gardener, srdfh unto him. Sir, if thou have borne him
hence, fell me where thou hasf laid Mm, and I will take him away. It
is a remarkable circumstance that after his resurrection, the Lord's
disciples did not know Jesus, till he had vouchsafed them some special
means of recognition — a proof that bis apipearauce Avas no longer the
same as before, and not always ahke — a proof, in fact, that his body
Avas no longer material. The Lord having put off materiality, the law
of the spiritual world, that the Lord appears to every one according to
his state, was uoav in operation vvith respect to him and his disciples.
It Avas iu accordance Avith this laAV that Mary supposed Jesus to be the
gardener. She did not, it is true, think of the Lord as being present,
but the true cause of her not recognising him Avas, that she did not
yet think of him in his true character, as the Resurrection and the
Life, This is not the only instance in AvMch Jesus was seen but not

Chap, XX.] ST JOHN. 489
kno-wn after his resurrection, by those to whom he was most intimately
known. What took place on those occasions may be considered as
both miraculous and parabolic, and is not less beautiful and instructive
than the things our Lord did and uttered during his sojourn Avith
his disciples. Mary in the garden is the spectator of one of these.
AVhat took place there has been recorded for our instruction. In the
AVord the church is compared to a garden, a vineyard, a sheepfold, and
the Lord to a husbandman, a vinedresser, a shepherd. In the present
case the garden is the church, the sepulchre in the garden is the AVord,
Jesus in the sepulchre is the Lord as to his humanity. The sepulchre
containing the crucified body of Jesus is the Word, as it is in the
church, Avhen its divine truth, especially as it relates to the Lord, is
denied ; the sepulchre with the angels in it, announcing that the Lord
had risen, is the AA'^ord, when it is seen to contain a spiritual and a
celestial sense, which teach the fact and the nature of the Lord's glori
fication. Mary, who seems not yet to have heard of the Lord's resur
rection, was stiU under the impression that he had been removed from
the sepulchre by human hands, and may be supposed to haA'e natur
aUy concluded that the gardener AA'as tbe most likely person to have
taken Mm away. But the Lord appearing to her. and being mistaken for
tl'.e gardener, expresses the spiritual idea that she was only as yet cap
able of seeing him in a character not Ms oavu, and not divine, but
human. Addressing the supposed gardener, she says, " If thou hast
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him aAvay " She little thought that he whom she addressed Avas the
Lord, Avho, by his own almighty power, had risen from the dead.
Mary sought him among the dead, and knew not yet that he was among
the liA'ing, nay, the Life itseU, he that Uveth and Avas dead, and is
alive for evermore. She sought him among the dead, because he was
yet dead, at least not yet risen, in her, not dead in her inmost affec
tion, but dead in her outermost thought. He had died out of her
natural mind, but was not yet risen, at least consciously, in her spiritual
mmd. She supposed that tbe Lord had been taken out of the sepul
cMe, and she wished to know where they had laid him, that she might
take him away. She had a desire therefore to discover where the
Lord was aud to take him away, and Avas thus so far prepared for the
announcement which Jesus was about to make to her.
16. .Jesus scdth unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto
him, Rubboni; which is to suy, Muster. It is natural to suppose that
the utterance of her name would draAV her attention to the speaker, and
reveal Avho the speaker was. Yet, even here, there is room for reflec-

490 ST. JOHN. [Cuap. XX.
tii'U. Neither by the eye nor by the ear had Al.iry discerned who he
Avas that addressed her, although she must have been familiar both
Avith his appearance and his voice. Sight and sound had failed her.
Rather, Jesus was no longer what her eyes had been accustomed to see
and her ears to bear. The form and tbe voice Avith Avhich she had
become so fimUiar, and which were so dear to her, were no longer
there. Jesus was transformed. He now appeared to bis disciples in
a form and character according to their state. Thej saw him outwardly
as they conceived of him iuAvardly. Not that the Lord's body was
less substantial, or that his presence with his disciples was less real,
than they had hitherto been. Not less, but more so. There was this
difference. He was not noAv an object of the natural but of the spiri
tual senses. And the spiritual senses have this pecuUarity, which dis
tinguishes them from the natural senses, that sight and thought, hear
ing and affection, are concordant. The eye and the intellect, the ear
and the Avill, are but the external and internal of the same power,
and act in unison. Bnt there is a deep spiritual interest in the ch
cumstance of the Lord pronouncing the name of the Alagdalene, and
of her recognising him by his domg so. In the sphitual sense, the
name of a person expresses his Avhole character ; and this is exempli
fied in the other life by CA'ery one having a name which is the verbal
image of himself, and gives an idea of his whole mind. When the
Lord addressed Alary by her name, and by that only, he addressed her
as oUe who knew her inmost heart ; and her inmost heart told her he
Avas that one who alone kncAv it — Jesus, her Lord and Saviour. This
is that state of which the apostle speaks, ¦ — when we know even as we
are known, when we see eye to eye, Avhen the Lord knows us, and his
knowledge, communicated to us, enables us to know him. Mary again
turns herself, that is, turns herself to the Lord, which iu reahty is the
Lord turning her to himself And, when turned, she saith unto him,
Rabboni, Master. The use of the term Master implies a perception and
acknowledgment of the Lord as Divine Truth, which the Lord had uoav
made his humanity by glorification ; and which he is to the CMistian
disciple at the corresponding stage of the regenerate Ufe. The Lord
salutes his loving disciple by the single word. Alary, and she answers
Mm by the single word. Master ; and in these two words, uttered in a
moment, a whole revelation is conveyed, so far as the state of Mary
could receiA'e it. In the ecstacy of the moment, Mary threw herself at
her Saviour's feet, and was about to clasp his knees.
17. Jesus saith unto her. Touch me not, for I um not yet ascended
to m-y Father : but go to my brethren, caid say unto them, I ascend

Chap. XX.] S,T. JOHN. 491
unto my Father, and your Father ; and to my God, and your God.
This is a A-ery singular chcumstance. We read that the Avomen who
met Jesus on theh return from the sepulchre held him by the feet and
worshipped him (Alatt. xxvui 9), and that the Lord invited Thomas
to put his hand into the print of the nails, and thrust his hand
into his side (ver. 27), Yet here he teUs Alary not to touch Mm.
Various theories have been proposed with the view of reconciling this
with the other cases we have mentioned ; but none give any satis-
factoiy solution of the difficulty, Avheu the historical sense is alone
regarded. The reason on which the prohibition to touch the Saviour
rests, would seem equally applicable to all others : " for I am not yet
ascended to Taj Father." If the Word is divinely inspired, it must
have a constant view to the end of its inspiration, Avhich is spiritual
etUfication. We have remarked (ver. 16), that the Lord having now
put off materiality, the laAv of the spiritual Avorld, that every one sees
the Lord according to his state, had come into operation, with respect
to him and his disciples. In accordance Avith this laAv, some of the
disciples might be permitted to touch the Lord, while others were
prohibited from doing so, their experience being as different as their
states. The reason AvMch the Lord gave to Alary, when he com
manded her not to touch him, affords us the means of explaining the
circumstance. The Lord made his humanity Divine Truth when he
was in the Avorld, and made it Divine Good when he Avent out of the
world. His humanity was noAv Divine Truth, but it Avas not yet
Divine Good. This it Avas noAV in the process of becoming. Ascen
sion to the Father Avas the completion of this mysterious process : then
the humanity became the Divine Loa'c itself in form. But Avhy should
this be a reasou for Mary being not alloAved to touch him before his
ascension, while others Avere permitted and even invited to do so ?
Because tiie states of the others corresponded to the present state of the
Lord's humanity, Avhile Mary's state corresponded to that of the Lord's
humanity, not as it was noAv, but as it Avould be, after he had ascended
to the Father. Alary, we have seen, represents those who are in that
highly regenerate state, in Avhich they love the Lord as Love. Alay
Ave not see then the deep significance of the Lord's command to Alary,
"Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father?" In this
prohibition he intimated that those celestial ones, whom Mary repre
sented, could not obtam conjunction Avith him tUl he had made his
humanity Divine Love itself. Through her Ave learn, that those who
are in states of celestial love, cannot be conjoined with the Lord as
Divine Truth, but only as Divine Love. Such as Mary Magdalene

492 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XX.
must not seek conjunction with the Lord as a Alaster, but as a Father;
they must therefore look upward and forward to the Lord's ascension
— practically, to the ascension of the Lord into the heaven of their
OAVU inmost hearts, where he is no longer Truth but Goodness, the
supreme object of celestial love. Instead of touching him, the Lord
commanded Mary to go to his brethren, and say unto them, " I ascend
unto my Father and your Father ; and to my God and your God."
As the female disciples are types of the affections of the avUI, and the
male disciples are types of the thoughts of the understanding, the word
being sent through Mary to the Lord's brethren, is expressive of the
Lord's truth entering through the will into the understanding, through
the affections into the thoughts. But especiaUy does it imply that the
Lord enters into the minds of the regenerate through the inmost and
highest affection of the heart, the affection of love to him. The Lord's
infiux is through love into charity, in virtue of which the disciples are
honoured by the Lord Avith the name of brethren. Brethren are those
Avho are united among themselves by charity, or brotherly love ; and
those Avho are conjoined to the Lord by charity are spiritually his
brethren. Alary was to announce to the disciples that the Lord was
about to ascend ; and he uses the remarkable language, " to ray Father
and to your Father, and to my God and your God." This is a A'ery
striking testimony to the truth, that Avhen the Lord speaks of himself
and the Father, he speaks of his humanity and his divinity. Suppose
Mm to have spoken as a second person of the Trinity, he could not
have called his F"'atlier his God. This is further evident from his
placing himself and his disciples in the same relation to God and the
Father. " Aly Father and your Father, my God and your God."
Isolated, these words might be regarded as teaching a perfect equality
betAveen Jesus and his disciples. They teach this truth, which is the
great truth of the Noav Testament, that Jesus is human, as his dis
ciples are human. God has become man, and his humanity is in
communion Avith humanity as it is in his disciples, and indeed in the
Avhole human race. Highly exalted as the Lord's humanity is, it is
still human. Nay, it is more human than before it was glorified.
Alan Avas created in the image of God, and the more he is an image,
the more he is man. Jesus as man is the express image of the Father,
and, therefore, he, and he alone, is perfect Alan. The message of the
Lord to his disciples by the hand of Mary is a most cheering and
hopeful one to humanity in general, and to every disciple in particular.
" I ascend," is the announcement of a possibility of their ascending
also. They have a common interest Avith Mm in this exaltation of

Chap, XX.] S'T JOHN, 493
humanity. To tell them that he ascends is to tell them that they
may ascend, and be Avith him Avhere he is.
18. Mury Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen
the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. The Lord's
message Avas carried to his disciples by the faithful and devoted Alary.
Thus does the Lord's living words descend through the inmost affec
tion of good in the aa'UI mto the perceptions of truth m the under
standing, communicating to the mmd a knoAvledge both of the Lord's
glorification, and of their own regeneration, uoav about to be com
pleted. When, on her visit to the sepulchre, Mary found not the
body of Jesus, she ran and told tAvo of the disciples ; and now, when,
on her second visit, she had seen the Lord, and had been entrusted by
Mm with a message, she came to deliver it to the disciples generally.
19. From early morning, when the Lord showed himself to the
women, Ave now come to the evening, when he manifested himself to
the men. He had shoAvn himself to two of the disciples, as they
travelled to Emmaus, but the whole of the eleven remained unbelieving,
regardmg the report of the several witnesses as idle tales. The fact
aud the manner of the Lord's appearance to the eleven were sufficient
to couAunce them. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of
the week (sabbaton), when the doors were shut where the disciples 'were as
sembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and
saith unto them. Peace be unto you. There is need for no argument to
prove that the Lord appeared in the midst of the disciples instantane
ously, the doors remaining shut ; for the spirit and letter of the relation
demand this. A striking evidence this that the Lord's body was no
longer material. The day of the resurrection is again called by the
name applied to it (ver. 1), Avhere the visit of Mary to the sepulcMe is
related. Though the day after the JcAvish sabbath, the name of the
Sabbath is applied to it, no doubt for the purpose of expressing the
idea that the Lord's resurrection day is a sabbath, and realizes aU that
was represented by the sabbath instituted by the mandate of Jehovah
hhnseU. It was indeed the first day of the week, and thus the
beginning of a new week, but it was also a sabbatical period, the intro
duction of a state of sanctity and rest. Or, considermg that the term
Sabbath is here used, as it is in some other places (as in Matt. xxviU.
1 ; Mark xvi. 9 ; Luke xvUi. 1 2) to mean a week, Ave may infer that
the Christian week is a sabbath, sanctified by the resurrection of the
Lord on its first day. The Jewish sabbath on the seventh day repre
sented a state of rest which rewards states of labour ; but the Christian
Sabbath is a holy state which is to extend its influence into the sue-

494 ST. JOHN. [Cuap. XX.
ceeding states of toil. It Avas on the evening of this first day of nevV'
sanctity, Avhen the doors Avere shut for fear of the Jews, that Jesus
came and stood in the midst of his disciples. So Avas fulfilled thi-
divine prophecy, " In the evening time there shaU be light.'' He who
Avas the Light itself and the Light of the Avoiid, stood in theh midst
The day had passed in despondency, and they Avere now in the obscurity
of unbelief, but they were assembled together, bound by one common
sentiment of devotion to their Lord, and they had shut the door for
fear of the Jcavs. Thus it is, Avhen in the midst of the deepest afflic
tion, the affections and thoughts are united, and the door is closed
against the admission of evils, that the Lord appears in t'ne midst, in
the centre of our Ufe, in the interior thoughts and affections of our
minds. It is then also that he is able to say, " Peace be unto you,''
for all things are brought into a state of peace Avhen the Lord, with his
love and truth, occupies the highest place in our hearts and mmds.
Peace in the supreme sense is the union of divinity and humanity in
the person of the Lord ; in a, secondary sense it is Ms conjunction Avith
heaven and the church ; aud in the mdividual sense it is the conjunc
tion of goodness and truth in the humau mind. Peace is Uke the
morning of the day and the spring of the year, which dispose the mind
to the reception of peace, and all pleasantness and delight, from the
freshness and beauty of nature. Peace is the blessedness of heart and
soul arising from the conjunction of goodness and truth among those
who are therein. Thence there is no more combat of Avhat is false and
evil against what is good and true, or no more spiritual discord and
war; the consequence of which cessation is peace, iii'AA'Moh aU fructifi
cation of good aud multiplication of truth is effected, and therefore also
inteUigence and wisdom. And since peace is from the Lord alone
among the angels of heaven and the men of the chm-ch, therefore
peace in the supreme sense signifies the Lord, in the respective sense
heaven and the church ; hence, also, good conjomed Avith truth among
those who are therein.
20. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and
his side. Then were fhe discipiles glad when they saw the Lord. I,,
giving this evidence of his identity, of Ms being the same Jesus which
Avas crucified, the Lord accommodated himseU to the inflrmities of his
disciples. Although we cannot ctjnceive that Ms death wounds were
stUl open, or that they existed iu the hands and side of Ms resurrection
body, yet, according to the laAv, that the Lord appears to men and
angels according to theh state, he appeared on this occasion as the dis
ciples must have expected to see him. His bod.y, though no longer

Chap. XX.] ST. JOHN. 495
material, was substantial. Its immateriality Avas evidenced by the
Lord's entering the room when the doors Avere shut ; its substantiality
by Ms disciples touching him, aud by other infaUible signs. But the
Lord's shoAvmg his hands and his side Avas also a symbolical act, such
as Avitnesses to the true disciple that the Lord is in very deed the
Saviour Avho was crucified for him, that Jesus is he Avho was dead and
is ahve again, and liveth for evermore. The Lord's hands Avere the
symbols of his poAver, and his side was the symbol of his love. To the
faithful disciples the Lord shoAvs his hands and Ms side, Avhen, after
he has been "put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit"
(1 Peter hi. 18), he manUests in them the power of his truth and the
mfluence of Ms love, by renewing them again to faith and love. AVhen
he had showed them his hands and his side, " then were the disciples
glad when they saAV the Lord." Gretxt must have been the joy of the
disciples Avhen they beheld alive hhn Avhose death had plunged them
into uncontrollable grief Not less joy is felt by the disciple uoav,
when, after the dark night of temptation, iu Avhich he refuses to be
comforted, he is at last assured by his oavu experience that the Lord
is risen indeed, risen in his heart, attested tc his understanding by
infaUible signs. Hoav pure and exalted the joy of this experience !
Holy joy is not the joy of the natural affections on the recovery of a
lost object of attachment, but of the spiritual affection of a new heart,
Avliich the Lord has been creating in the faithful during the Avliole
course of their regeneration, and has perfected by the last temptation,
through wMch they have passed from death unto lUe.
21. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father
huth sent me, even so send I you. Hoav befitting the occasion the saluta
tion and the gift of peace ! The disciples had passed through states of
anguish and tribMation far greater than those they experienced on the
sea of GalUee, when the great tempest threatened them with sAvift
destruction; and he Avho came to them walking on the troubled sea,
and said, " Peace, be still," and there was a great calm, noAv comes to
them, treadmg the waves of that sea of tribulation on AvMch they were
helplessly and despairingly tossed, and by the same omnipotent word —
Peace, cahns theh troubled spirits, and fills them with joy unspeakable.
But there were other reasons for the suitableness of the Lord's saluta
tion and gUt of peace. Jesus had now ended his great warfare and
achieved his great victory, and had established peace on the sure
foundation of conquest aud glorification. The peace which he
had conquered for himseU he now bestowed upon his disciples,
who had foUowed him m his humUiation. AA^hUe bestowing his

496 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XX.
peace upon them, he gave them a commission, that they should
impart to others of what they had received themselves. As they
had received the Lord's peace, they Avere to follow Ms example by
carrying forAvard Ms saving work. " As my Father hath sent me,
even so send I you." It was most suitable that the work of human
regeneration, which he had begun, should be carried on by Ms disciples.
The Gospel of the kmgdom was hoav to be preached aiicAV. The (Us
ciples had been sent forth to proclaim the glad tidmgs of the Alessiah's
advent, and to show the commencement of his reign by its beneficent
results. Noav they were to renew their work, and to do it from a
purer motive and with a higher aim. The true nature cf the Lord's
kingdom Avas about to be disclosed to them, and a ucav influence was
about to descend upon them, and a ucav pattern Avas placed before
them for the direction of tlieir efforts. As the Father had sent the
Son, even so the Son sent the disciples. The DiviMty had sent the
Humanity. Divme Tmth had been sent by the Divine Love. So the
disciples Avere to do as the Lord had done. He did not go, he waj
sent ; he, as Truth, was sent by Love. So with the disciples. LoA-e
must be the moA'ing cause in all theh operations j truth the instra-
mental means. There must not only be the faith that worketh, but
the faith that Avorketh by love.
22. And when he hud said this, he brecdhed on them, and saith unto
them. Receive ye the Holy Ghost. This act of our Lord is very mstruc
tive and significant. It shows that the Holy Spirit is the blessed
Spirit of the Lord's love and truth, as it proceeds from his glorified
body into the hearts and minds of his disciples. The spirit AvMch our
Lord breathed on his disciples was the Spirit Avhich could not be given
before Ms glorification, because it did uot then exist as a regenerating
Sphit (vii. 39). There had always been the Spirit of God — an emana
tion from the Divine Being, of which we read often m the Old Testa
ment, and Avhicli is mentioned m the New, as having overshadowed
the virgin. But the nature and effects of tMs Spirit were very different
before and after the Incarnation. The Holy Spirit, as it now proceeds
from the Lord, is not the Spirit of Jehovah, but the Spirit of Jesus —
not the Spirit of Ms creative but of his redemptive love aud poAver.
It is the Sphit which breathes the breath of sphitual life into those
who had been dead in trespasses and sins, and restores them to a lUe
of obedience and righteousness. The Spirit which the Lord breathed
on his disciples was, m brief, the Spirit of regeneration, by the recep
tion of which man becomes a ucav creature.
23. When the Lord had breathed his Sphit upon the apostles, he

Chap, XX,] ST. JOHN, 497
said unto them. Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto
them ; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. The power
here given to the apostles must be understood consistently with the
truth, that sin can be forgiven by God only. The sense in Avhich the
Lord's words are generally regarded is, that the apostles were authorized
to pronounce forgiveness to penitent sinners. When we consider that
the remission of sins is really their removal, and that even infinite
mercy and grace cannot remit them in any other way, we may see that
the Lord coMd not give to his servants a power which he Mmself does
not possess. Sins are remitted to the penitent. The agency of the
apostles, in remitting and retaining sin, will be best seen by regarding
these words as addressed to them in theh representative as weU as in
theh personal character. Considered as representing the principles of
goodness and truth, we can see how they remit and retain sm. The
traths of the Word remit sins when they remove them, Avhich they do
by couATUcing men of sin, and leading them by repentance to ncAvness
of Ufe. They also retain sins : for it is truth which condemns. " I
had not knoAvn sin unless the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."
Thus that wMch is a savour of life unto Ufe is also a savour of death
unto death (2 Cor. u. 16). The power of remitting and retaining sins
was given to the apostles, to intimate, that the Ught of the Gospel
distmguishes more clearly between good and evil, than that of the
Law, and more fully reveals their consequences. The Lord said,
" I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in rae
should not abide m darkness." But he also said, " This is the con
demnation, that light is come iuto the world, and men loved darkness
rather than Ught, because their deeds Avere evU."
24, 25. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not
with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto
Mm, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall
see in his hands the print of the nails, and put m.y finger into the print
of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. It is
remarkable, and was no doubt a part of the divine purpose, that the
twelve apostles should comprise men of such marked difference of
character. Their diversity of character was needed, to enable them to
represent all the varieties of character and state among the members of
the church, and the principles that enter into and form the character
of each of its members. Thoraas represents those Avhose faith rests
upon the testimony of the senses. Thoraas was not among those who
are in a negative state, and are predetermined not to beheve. He had
the principle of behef in his heart, and only Avanted what, to bis con-
2 I

498 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XX.
stitution and condition of raind, Avas sufficient evidence to Avarrant full
and firm belief Thomas Avas only a step behind his fellow disciples.
AU had refused to believe the testimony of the women, Avhose account
of Avhat they had seen and heard seemed to them as idle tales, and
Thomas refused to receive the testimony of his felloAv apostles. There
is this difference betAveen the ten aud Thomas, and it Avould seem to
be the only difference in their favour, that the ten Avere satisfied with
having seen Jesus, Avhile Thomas demanded that he should not only
see him but feel him, by touching tbe very wounds of his crucified
body. The sense of touch is the loAvest of the senses, aud the basis of
all the others ; it supplies the last link m the cham of evidence,
beyond which the demand of faith cannot go. We see something of
this gradation in the character of those to whom Jesus successively
appeared. We find that the Lord first appeared to Alary Alagdalene,
then to the other Avomen, then to the two male disciples on theh Avay
to Emmaus, afterAvards to the ten, and lastly to Thomas. Then, too,
did the Lord Jesus show that his humanity mcludes and sympathizes
Avitli aU persons and aU states, from the highest to the lowest ; aud that
he is able to save all who come unto him, even those who regard him
as still bearing in his body the Avounds that he received on tbe cross.
26. And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and
Thomas with them. Then cume Jesus, the doors being shut, und .stood
in the midst, and said. Peace be unto you. This meeting Avas again
on the first day of the week — the Lord's day — expressive of a ubav
state, after the intervening states of labour and trial ; but it is called
after eight days, because eight sigMfies, not merely a completed state,
like seven, but the beginning of a ucav one. Thomas on this occasion,
was with the disciples. The doors were again shut, and again Jesus
stood in the midst of Ms disciples, giving Thomas, as he had previ
ously given the others, a proof of his actual existence in Ms resurrec
tion body. The Lord again, and uoav the third time, gives them a
salutation of peace, as a sign that he Avas about to complete the object
of his appearing amongst them. Looking at the circumstance in refer
ence to ourselves individuaUy, as those AA'hose inward experience is
described in these outAvard events, we may see something instructive.
AVhen we are brought into states of deep trial, as the apostles Avere,
as the means of divesting our minds of imperfect vicAvs and feelings,
our new convictions and affections are produced gradually. AVhen
the truth, in its noAv aspect, is presented to our minds, it finds the
greater difficulty of reception the lower it descends into the faculties
or degrees of the mind. And even after it has been perceived and

Chap. XX,] ST. JOHN. 499
acknowledged with joy by tbe wUl and inteUect of tiie mind, ob
jections arise from the fallacies of the senses. The sensual principle,
like Thoraas, refuses to believe, except on evidence suited to its na
ture. And even this the Lord condescends to give.
27, 28. Then scntli he to Tliumus, Reuch hither thy finger, and be
hold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my
side: and he not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and
said unto him, Bly Lord and my God. By appearing instantaneously
in the midst, the Lord shoAved his omnipresence, by addressing Thomas
as he did, he shoAved his omniscience. Jesus shoAved Thomas that he
kneAV his unbelief and his demand for suitable evidence ; and offering
him the testimony which he had demanded, called upon hira to be
not faitMess but believing. Whether this double appeal to hira
carried conviction to his mind Avith or Avithout his actually touching
the Lord's risen body does not appear ; but whatever Avas the cause
of conviction, that conviction was complete. How deeply must con
viction have sunk into his soM to have draAvn from him the exclama
tion and confession. My Lord and mt God ! We shaU not stop to dis
pute with those who regard tMs as an exclamation of surprise, and
not also an expression of faith. The language of the evangelist shoAvs
that it Avas an acknowledgment of his faith in Jesus. Thomas did
not simply utter his words as an exclamation ; but, addressing Jesus,
" he said unto him. My Lord and my God." Jesus was therefore the
person to Avhom the Avords referred, as being the person to whom they
were addressed. They Avere an acknoAvledgment that to the hitherto
unbelieving disciple Jesus Avas Lord and God. But there Avas some
thing stiU more than the doctrinal acknoAvledgment of the divinity
of -Jesus. There is the acknowledgment of Jesus as Ms Lord and
Ms God. Jesus entered at once into his understanding and Ms heart,
as the living Object of his faith and love. Jesus is indeed both Lord
and God. The confession of Thomas is not the only testimony to this
great truth. But it is a valuable testimony nevertheless. But the
practical lesson we acquire from this is diff'erent, though comcident
with its doctrinal teaching. AA^hen, after trial, and doubt, and denial,
the tmth of Jesus is brought home by irresistible evidence at once to
our understanding and our heart, then it is that we see and feel that
Jesus is our Lord aud our God. He is the Lord of our hearts by his
love, and the God of our understandings by his truth. These two
names applied to the Lord are expressive of his love and truth.
29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, beccxuse fhou hast seen me, tliou
hust believed: blessed ure they thcd have not seen, and yet have believed.

500 ST. JOHN. [Chap, XX.
TMs was no doubt intended as a gentle reproof to Thomas, and through
him to aU who demand external evidence for faith, which is " the
evidence of things not seen." The Lord is a God that hideth himself
In Mm we live and move and have our being, but we have no sensible
or even conscious evidence of the divine presence and operation within
us. His Providence is continually over us, and his Spirit is ever with
us, but we see and feel them not. There is, indeed, external testi
mony to the truth that there is a God, and that he governs in Ms OAvn
universe. But we haA'e far better and more convincmg evidence
when he governs in our hearts and lives. There are indeed m tMs
and in all things of religion two kinds of evidence, mternal and ex
ternal The best evidence for the divinity of the Word and of the
Lord is that which the truth carries with it, when it brmgs inward
light and peace to the soM. TMs is internal evidence. The belief
arising from this carries a divine blessing m its bosom. The faith
that rests upon tradition, or authority, or miracles, or the testimony of
the senses, is that of Avhich the Lord spake when he said to Thomas,
¦" Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed." People of an external
./Character crave such means of faith; and such .raeans are mercUuUj'
-permitted to them, that they may not be faitMess but beUevmg. But
heavenly faith rests on higher testimony, the testimony of truth as
- revealed in the Word, and of the Spirit of truth as revealed in the heart.
This is truly blessed, for it satisfies the highest demands of the reason
and the purest desires of the heart.
:30, 31. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
. disciple.s, which are not written in this book : hut these are written, that
ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that
ibelieving ye might have life through his name. The many signs Jesus
.•did, which divine wisdom has left unrecorded in the gospels, are not
ito be regarded as lost; they are written in the great works he per
formed, and on the Avork which he was even then performing in the
;«piritual world, preparatory to his ascension into heaven. We may
esven venture to suppose that they contributed to that mysterious
-change which Avas effected in the Lord's humanity, between his
rasm-rection and ascension — that change by which the Lord made
his humanity divine good, in vhtue of which he ascended to the
Father. The things which the evangelist has written, have been
given for establishing the faith of the Lord's disciples, and these it is
our privilege to possess. The words of the evangelist, taken in their
simplest sense, must be understood to teach that the few of the many
signs which Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, after he was

Chap. XX.] ST, JOHN. 501
risen from the dead, are sufficient to convince them that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God. These signs are to be regarded as evidences
of the Lord's resurrection, which itself is a proof that he is the Christ,
the Son of God, and may be usefully employed to convince of this
truth those who require such evidence. To the disciples themselves
they Avere no doubt regarded principaUy as evidence of the Lord's
identity. The signs, generally, have not so much the character of
proofs in favour of the Lord's superhuman power as some that he
showed before his crucifixion. There were two indeed greater than all
that Jesus had done before his crucifixion. His resurrection, effected by
Ms own power, or, AvMch is the same, by the poAver of the Father, was
a far greater miracle than raising Lazarus from the dead. This. hoAvever,
is not mcluded among the signs of Avhich John here speaks. This
miracle was immeasurably greater, not only in itself, but in its re
sMts. Lazarus, after he Avas risen, died again, but Jesus, risen from
the dead, dieth no more. One of the signs to Avhich the evangelist
refers, and which is a strikmg proof that Jesus is the Son of God, is
the chcumstance of his appearing and disappearing instantaneously,
showmg that he, as a man, was no longer subject to time and space.
And this is an evidence of his being the Son of God, because Jesus is
the Son of God as to his Huraanity, and the humanity became truly
and fuUy the Son of God by glorification, that is, by putting off finite
ness and putting on infinity ; and such a humanity is omnipresent,
and coMd therefore appear and disappear, not by changing its place,
but by changmg the states of raen, by opening and closing the spiritual
sight of the disciples. These and the other signs Avhich Jesus did, in
order to produce true spiritual belief in him as the Christ, the Son of
God, must not oMy be read by us as written iu John's gospel, but as
written m our oavu hearts and understandings. They must become
matters of experience, they raust be Avritten in the book of our own
life. And as matters of experience there are many other signs Avhich
Jesus does m our presence which are not written in the book of our
lives, many which never come to our knowledge. Regeneration is a
work wMch contains Avonders that never come to our consciousness,,
and wMch transcend our Mghest conceptions. Those which do come
to our knowledge and perception are more than sufficient to produce
beUef in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God— as essential divine truth
and essential divme good— and through behef to give us life hi (not
through) his name. To bave Ufe in his name is to hve in hhn, and to
Uve m the spirit and power of which his name is expressive, A Uving
faith m Jesus as om; God and Saviour gives us Ufe spiritual and eternal.

302 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXL

CHAPTER XXI.
It is the opinion of some critics that the last verse of the preced
ing chapter forms the original conclusion of John's gospel, and that
this chapter is to be regarded as a supplement added by the
apostle Mmself, or an addition made by some other hand. The
objections to its authenticity are based on a feAv slight differences from
John's usual forms of expression, and on the assumed unmeaningness
or triviality of its contents. It is, on the other hand, to be considered
that all the manuscripts contain it, and that the most spiritual and
intellectual Fathers of the church gave it a symbolical interpretation.
It is from leavmg out of sight the spirituality of the Scriptures, and
fixing their eyes exclusively on the structure and meaMng of the letter,
that they have founded this opinion of the present portion of John's
gospel, and that their judgment respecting the genuineness of some other
parts of the Word have been determined or greatly influenced. While
Ave aAvard all honour to those scholars Avho devote their lives to the
study of the sacred text, and render them the meed of praise for much
real good which they effect, we must at the same time assert the claims
of a higher criticism, whose procedure is synthetical and not analytical.
Both kmds of criticism are required for obtaining a complete vicAV of
the sacred text, and no just conclusion can, in many cases, be formed
of its genuineness but by the combined aud balanced evidence of both.
Although our explanation of the particulars of the chapter differs in
some respects from that of the early expositors of the sacred text, Avho
are noAv too much disregarded, they wUl, we think, be sufficient to
show the edifying nature of tMs concluding part of the gospel, avMcIi,
from a merely literary point of AicAv, has seeraed to be unworthy
of the apostle to whom it is ascribed.
1. After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at
the sea of Tiberias ; aud on this wise showed he himself. This, accor
ding to John, the third and final manifestation of Jesus to Ms disciples,
is not less edifying than it is affectingly beautifM. The sea of Tiberias,
•on the shores of which Jesus first presented himself to the chief of his
•disciples, when he caUed thera frora their humble occupation to become
fishers of men, is the scene of this Ms last manifestation to them, to
•confirm his covenant with them, and seal his instmction and Ms charge
1;o them as the ministers of his Word. The sea is of extensive signifi-
fication ; it signifies the world and it signifies the Word, — the Avorld as
consisting of immortal souls, and the AVord as consisting of eternal

Chap. XXL] ST. JOHN. 503
truths. The AVord is a revelation from him by Avhom the world vv.is
made and redeemed, and is his divine will aud wisdom, addressed as
it is accommodated to men. He, therefore, who would be a fisher of
men must be especially a searcher of the AVord of God ; for the truths
of the AVord are the means by AA'hich souls are drawn from the world,
and won to God. Jesus showed himself to his discipiles at the sea of
Tiberias, that he might instruct thera hoAv they must proceed, in order
to draw men from the world and truths from the AVorcl, — the lesson he
designed to teach them, as those Avho were now about to enter ou the
great Avork of the gospel ministry. It relates, besides, to every dis
ciple without distinction. All are to be, in their oavu way, fishers.
EA'ery true disciple must draw truths from the AA'ord for his oavu
instmction, Avhether or not he be a teacher of men. The AA^'ord is the
source of religious truth. In the vision of the new temple Avhich
Ezekiel saw, the Avaters that issued out from the threshold of the
house carried life wherever they Avent, healing the sea, and filling it
Avith a A'ery great multitude of fish (chap, xlvii). The vision des
cribes the church, established by the Lord at his coming ; and the
hving water that issued from under the threshold of the temple, like
the pure river of the water of life that proceeded out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb, as spoken of in the Revelation, is the Spirit of
the Eternal Word, as it ffows doAvn into the Avritten AVord, healing its
Avaters, which corrupt men have poisoned and erring men have soiled,
and cairymg into it new lUe and health, thus spiritualizing its genuine
truths, for the instruction and edification of men of the church, who
are the spiritual fishers.
2. The evangelist then relates the circumstances under AA'hich Jesus
shoAved Mmself There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas ccdled
Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana of Gulilee, and the sons of Zebedee,
and two other of his discipiles. In all there were seven disciples, a
holy number. The seven were together, expressive of their being
imited and harmonious. Of these seven Peter and Thomas, the one
Avho deMed and the other who had disbelieved, are placed first, as if
to shoAV how much can be done by sincere and deep repentance. But
it also shows that faith is the leading grace in the present combination,
faith being represented by Simou Peter ; for in every case, Avhoever
is mentioned first gives a character to the whole. The series here
consists, first, of Simon Peter, Thomas called Didj'mus, and Nathanael
of Cana of GaUlee, who represent faith in the avUI, faith in the
understandmg, and faith m the life ; then the tAvo sous of Zebedee,
who represent charity and faith united in the internal man, and two

504 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXL
others, not named, who represent charity and faith united m the ex
ternal man. Jesus made his third appearance to these, to mstruct us
that when these principles exist together in the mind, and are actuated
by one end, as these disciples had in this instance, and that end is to
draw instruction from the AVord for the uses of a holy lUe, the Lord is
present and manifests himseU. The purpose is expressed in the words
which the leading disciple now proceeds to address to the others.
3. Simon Peter suith unto them, I go a-fishing. They say unto
him. We also go with tliee. They went forth, and entered into a. ship
immediately, and that night they caught nothing. Peter sajing,
spirituaUy means a reflection origmating in faith in the AviU, AvMch
he represents. In many cases Peter was the spokesman, and most
appropriately was he so now, when the disciples Avere about to become,
in a sense and manner they had never hitherto realized, fi.shers of men,
and when their acts were to be types of a spiritual work they had
hitherto but imperfectly understood and performed. Now that Jesus
was glorified, the evangelization of the Avorld and the regeneration of
the human soul were to be, as it were, commenced anew. It was not
untU now that the disciples could understand what the kmgdom of
Christ was, and what it AA'as to preach it. Hitherto, and even now,
they knew not the sphitual nature of the kingdora, aud the spiritual
change which was necessary to be effected in those who were to be
brought into it. They were yet in a state fitly represented by the
night in which they Avere engaged in fishing on the dark lake of Gahlee,
and the resMt of their labour was like that of their fishing, Avhen they
toUed aU the night and caught nothing. But we may see m this
description of the disciples and of their labour a type of the disciple
and Ms work, when he is in the state of the spiritual Ufe here repre
sented. Let us Aiew it in reference to the Word as the depository of
living truths. " I go a-fisMug " is the expression of the deshe of
the Christian disciple to acquire from the AA''ord truths for supportmg
the spiritual life of the soM. TMs desire, uttered in faith, has the
concurrence and co-operation of the other Christian graces, but is
essentially the prompting of the understanding. The night m Avhich
they toiled was the night of the Jewish church, the state of Avhich
made it diflficMt to (fraAV any into the net AvMch the disciples cast into
the sea. But the night describes their oavu state as well as that of the
church. Their minds are in a state of obscurity on the great subject
and object of the gospel dispensation. And this night of fruitless
labour is one that is a common experience Avith the Christian disciple,
aud it is that state of mental obscurity in Avhich he finds Mmself, Avhen

Chap, XXL] ST, JOHN. 505
the Lord, who is the true Light, is away, and when he labours in his
OAvn strength and m his oavu inteUigence.
4. We UOAV come to the bright side of the subject. But when the
moming was now come, Jesus stood on the shore ; hut the discipiles
knew not that it was Jesus. We have seen the disciples separate from
the Lord, acting from themselves, and in the night. Noav we are to
see them with the Lord, or the Lord with them, and the resMt of their
actmg under his immediate direction. The early mornmg, when the
sun, unrisen and unseen, has shed his light upon the mountain-tops
and diffused it through the atmosphere, is an emblera of that state of
the nund when the love of God is indeed shed abroad upon the heart,
but the light of tmth is as yet but dmily seen in the understanding ;
when the sun has not yet risen in his strength, and become visible to
the eye of faith. Such Avas the morning Avhich had iioav come, Avheii
Jesus stood on the shore. The shore is tbe ever- varying border-line of
the land and of the sea, and is representative of the external or sensual
part of the raind where good and truth meet : and in relation to the
Word it is representative of the external or literal sense, where its
principles of good and truth are conjoined. Here the Lord appears to
the disciples who are earnestly but unsuccessfully labouring to draAv
from the Word hving truths for the support of their spiritual life. In
tMs case the Lord is seen and is not seen — seen but not perceived.
Smgularly expressive is this natural fact here recorded, in certain states
of Christian experience. We may read the Scriptures and learn the
truths it teaches, even those which relate to Jesus as the Saviour of
men ; yet we may not know them, having no spiritual discernment of
their nature, and no experience of theh power. We see their form,
but not their essence, as the disciples saw the Lord but kncAv not who
he was.
5. The means wMch the Lord took to make MmseU known to his
disciples are symbohcal of those wMch he stUl employs to reveal Mm
seU to his smcere but darkened foUowers. Then Jesus suifh unto them.
Children, have ye any meat ? They answered Mm, No. He addresses
or salutes them by the endearmg name of chUdren, which expresses his
paternal love and their filial relation to him, and theh teachableness
and submission to Ms authority, as the event proved. They were yet
cMldren in another sense, chUdren in knoAvledge, who had yet to grow
up mto the stature and -wisdom of men. The Lord did not ask them
U they had been successfM m theh fishing, but U they had any meat.
The word here used means, not bread, but something that is eaten AA'ith
it, as fish. But as the term meat signifies the principle of good, in
distmction from trath, the question is an important and searcMug one.

506 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXL
Have ye acquired any of that vital principle which constitutes the soul's
food — that without Avhich all our other acquirements are vain, and
Avithout having acquired which all our labours are v.ain. These questions
are such as the Lord, by the infiuence of his Spirit and the teaching of
his AVord, suggests m and to the earnest mind. And the answer of
the disciples is. No. The knoAvledge and acknoAvledgment of our want
of that Avhich we have been striving after is the prelude of success.
6. And he said unto them. Cast the net on the right side of the ship,
and ye shall find. They cast therefore; and now they were not able
to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Among those who regard the
relation as having only a natural meaning it has been asked. Why on
the riglit side of the ship ? and it has been conjectured that it may
have been the side nearest the shore, as the sballoAvest Avater, and the
least likely to provide a supply for their net. AVe have no Avish to
diminish the force of the miracle ; but Ave may venture to suggest that
the command carries in it something more than the means of a mhacle.
In Scripture, the right is expressiA'e of charitj', AvhUe the left is expres
sive of faith. When thus understood, Iioav instructive does the diAine
command become ! It teaches us that Avhether Ave learn or preach the
gosp'cl, our success will depend on the principle from Avhich we act and
on which we proceed. If Ave act from the intellect and faith onlj', we
may toil aU the night and take notMng ; but if Ave act from the heart
and charity our exertions will bc croAvned Avitli success. So far as we
act from faith, Ave seek to make converts to our oavu particular doc
trines, without a due regard to their spiritual improA-ement and happi
ness ; but so far as Ave act from charity, Ave seek to couA'ert men, not
simply by a change of opinion to ourselves, but by a change of heart
to God. And again, in studying the Word, so far as we act from in-
ioUectual faith we seek to acquire tmths Avitli a vieAv to confhm our
OAVU religious opinions ; but so far as we act from charity, Ave seek to
acquire truths for the purpose of groAving in the graces and virtues of
the Christian life. These two kinds of activity may be displayed succes
sively by tbe same person. The first is when his natural mind is more
active than his spiritual. This is his spiiitual night. For night aud day
are states of mmd produced, night by the ascendancy of the natural over
the spiritual man, and day bythe ascendancy of the spiritual over the
natural. These states alternate Avith every mau, lioAvever highly regene
rated he may be. " WMle the earth remains, day and night, and summer
and Avinter shall not cease." The alternations are as useful as they are
necessary. No state can be perfected Avithout them. Action and reaction
preserve equilibrium and promote healthful vigour and development.
It is day Avith the Christian AA'hen his spiiritual poAvers and principles

Chap. XXL] ST. JOHN. 507
are active, when the warrath of heavenly love aud the light of heavenly
trutii are actiA'e in his raind and life ; but night closes around him as
Ms natural affections and thoughts become active, and the affairs and
anxieties of the natural life acquire for the time prominence and activ
ity. But this state, Avith its disappointments and unrequited labours,
prepares the raind for another and better one, in Avhich light and hope,
and the appearing of the Lord, and the voice of his trutii and the in
fluence of his loA-e, shall cheer the heart, and guide the mind to a happier
result. This resMt is shadoAved in the success of the disciples Avheu
they cast their net on the right side of the ship : and " now they were
not able to draAv it for the multitude of fishes." Multitude is a term
applied to truth as magnitude is to good. The multitude of fish sha-
doAved the midtitude of men, especially of the Gentiles, Avhich the
disciples should convert to the faith of the gospel, Avhen they came, in
the day of Christian principle Avhich Avas noAv daAvning upon them,
and under the teacMng of the Lord, who now appeared to them, to
seek to bring men into a kingdom Avhich Avas not of this Avorld, but
Avhich, like its king, Avas spiritual and eternal. It sliadoAvs also the
mcrease of truthi which the AVord yields to those Avho search the
Scriptures under the influence of charity. Good is the life of truth
and is the source of its increase ; for good enlarges its poAver aud means
of usefMuess by truth ; Avherever and Avhenever good abounds, tmths
are increased, and may be so multitudinous as to be beyond our poAver
to comprehend or appropriate them when first acquired.
7. One effect of this miraoidous increase is to convince us that it is
the Lord's doing, aud therefore that he Avho produced it can be no
other than Jesus. Therefore tlud discipile -whom Jesus loved saith unto
Peter, It is the Lord. Now -when Simon Peter heard tlud it was the
Lord, he girt Ms fisher's coed unto him (for he was naked), and did
cast himself into the sea. The idea that it was the Lord who had
directed and prospered their effort, presents itself first to John, who
suggests it to Peter : because the divine influx is into the avUI, and
through the wUl into the understanding; or through charity iuto
faith. This leads the mind to seek conjunction with the Lord, as
Peter determined to go to Jesus. But Peter Avas naked, and therefore
ght Ms fisher's coat about him. Naked, here and in some other places
in Scripture, means without tbe outer garment ; but the term is, no
doubt, used to express spiritual nakedness, which is a destitution or
deficiency of truth, truths being to the mind Avhat garments are to the
body. The Avord here used for coat does not occur as a name in any
other part of the New Testament ; in Us verbal form it occurs in 2
Cor. V. 2, 4, Avhere the apostle says, " For in this (earthly house) we

508 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXI.
groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon by our house which is
from heaven . . . not for that we Avould be unclothed, but clothed
upon, that mortality be SAvallowed up in life." The body is here
spoken of as the clothing of the soul ; the natural body its clothing in
this Avorld, the spiritual body its clothing iu the other. Every soul or
sphit must have a body, every essence a form. The spirit of faith
clothes itself with the truth of faith as with a garment, as the divine
Being clothes himself Avith light. Faith without its proper truths is
Avithout protection, and without comeliness and glory. It is luke-
Avarm Laodiceans that are represented as saymg they are rich and
increased in goods, and have need of nothing ; and knoAv not that
they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked :
and who are counselled to buy of the Lord white raiment, that they
may be clothed, and that the shame of their nakedness do not appear
(Rev. ui 17). Peter's being naked does not imply that he was m this
destitute and shameful state, without having any consciousness or
sense of it ; but, on the contrary, that, while he found himself naked,
he was desirous to be clothed, that he might appear in the presence of
Mm who was now the object of his excited affections. The truths
with which the disciple clothes himself, are the means of conjunction
with the Lord. Hence it is that so much is said respecting garments
in the Word, and about the necessity of bemg clothed in suitable
raiment, especially of being clothed Avith the Avedding-garment, in
order to be admitted to the heaveMy marriage. Peter's putting on Ms
outer garments represents the CMistian puttmg on in fulness the truth
of faith, as suitable for entering into the Lord's presence, and attain
ing conjunction with him. When Peter Avas appareUed, he cast him
self mto the sea. This act, like girdiug Ms coat about Mm, showed
his eagerness. It expresses the intense deshe of the faithful to be
Avith the Lord, when thus revealed to them, by his doing for them
what they had been unable to do themselves. What, m this mstance,
Jesus did for the disciples, he did by them. He prospered their
labours. And what Peter did was an example of what an earnest
faith prompts the disciple to do, to gird himself, and go to him tMough
the waters, the promise being, " they shall not overflow thee,"
8. And the other disciples came in a little ship (for they were not far
from land, but as it were two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fishes.
The other disciples are the principles of goodness and truth which
enter into faith, and serve to exalt aud confirm it. These follow
where faith leads — to the Lord as the supreme object of faith and the
author of aU that is good and true ; and they came to the Lord
mediately through the knowledge of good and truth, of which a ship

Chap. XXL] ST. JOHN. 509
is the symbol. That in which the disciples came was a little ship.
Magnitude having reference to good, as multitude has to trutii ; the
other disciples coming in a little ship, implies that the knoAvleJge by
which they came to the Lord Avas indeed grounded in good, but that
it was sniaU. They had yet but little knowledge of the Lord and of
their own true vocation. Yet that little Avas sufficient to bear them
up, and bring them to Jesus, dragging the net, Avith its miraculous
draught, from the Avorld into the church. Such we may regard these
circumstances in relation to the disciples of all times. The disciples
of Jesus may learn from it that it is not the largeness of their means
that is tbe measure, nor even of the promise of their success, but the
Word and Spirit of the Lord. Those Avho Avork in his strength will
not fmd the ship too small for the successful performance of their
blaster's work. And in this they may find another lesson of encour
agement. The disciples, when they came in their Uttle ship, dragging
the net, were not far from the laud. The Word in Avhich the Lord is
more immediately present is not far from the world, but may always
be reached by the faithful and zealous, with the fruit of their labour.
But there is a more practical lesson in the circumstance than this.
For land and sea are emblematical of good and truth : and their
making their way to the land, where the Lord was, is expressive of
their pressing ouAvard to a state of goodness and to him who is Good
ness itseU. The tAvo hundred cubits also, which was their distance
from the land, is expressive of some degree of the conjunction of
goodness with their truth, of charity with their faith.
9. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals
there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. It may seem to some to do
violence to the simplicity of the uarratiA'e to regard this as supernatural,
,and yet the narrative itself suggests, and the Lord's history after his
resurrection requires, that it should be so regarded. The incident has
A supernatural air about it. AVhence and why this preparation and
provision, the fire, the fish, the bread? Jesus now needed none of the
•elements of material existence : and those speculations, in which some
have indulged, as to where he dwelt, hoAV he was clothed, by what he
was fed, are the offspring of materialistic views respecting the nature of
Ms resurrection body. The Lord's body was uoav divine ; and that
which he provided for the disciples was food for the soul, not for the body.
The disciples saAv the Lord, not with their natural but with their
: spiritual eyes ; so Ukewise did they see the provision which he had
made for them. WhUe every reasonable man must see that such was
the case, some may have some difficulty in understanding the subject

510 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXL
of spiiitual life, to which these objects raust be referred. The spiritual
Avorld is as real as the natural world, and spiritual things are as truly
objective to the senses of the soul as the things of this world are to
those of the body. The spiritual Avoiid is also as near to the natural
world as the soul is to the body. All that is required, therefore, to
bring men into sensible connection Avitli the spiritual world, and give
them a sensible perception of spiritual objects, is to give them a tem
porary experience of their eternal state, by enabling thera to see and
hear and feel by their spiritual senses. Such a teraporary state was
induced upon all who, according to the records of both Testaments,
saAV angels, and entertained them. Only by the same senses were the
disciples able to see the Lord after his resurrection, and everything
that he provided for them, and did before them, even to his eating of
" a broiled fish and of an honeycomb " (Luke xxiv. 42). No violent
change was necessary to effect this opening of the spiritual senses.
Those who experienced it were not even conscious of the change ; and
when in the spirit everything must have appeared so natural that they
knew no other thau that what they saw belonged to the world in which
they lived. They might also enjoy at once a double vision, and see at
once the objects both of the spiritual and the natural world. For
although according to the ordinary law when the spiritual eye is open
the natural eye is shut, yet the sight of the spirit and the body may be
both active at the same time. But to come to the spiritual meaning
of this supernatural manifestation. It was made for the purpose of
instructing, not only the disciples Avho Avere the immediate subjects
of it, but all true disciples Avho should come after them. The fire
which the disciples saAV Avas an emblem of the fire of divine love,
Avhich the Author of the uoav completed redemption of man had
kindled on the earth, in the church, m the hearts of the faithful. On
the fire the disciples saw fish laid, and also bread. The fish and
bread are in the singular number, so that one fish and one cake was
all that he had provided as a repast for so many persons. This was
evidently intended to impress the disciples Avitli the conviction that
they were about to be fed miraculously, and to show them that he
who could invite them to " come and dine " on such a scanty meal,
could be no other than he who multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed
the multitudes. But it Avas designed to teach still another lesson, one
relating to the spiritual Avork in Avnich the disciples were henceforth
to be engaged, and the spiiitual eflects Avliich their teaching was to
produce. The bread and fish symbolized the principles of goodness
and truth, and fire vvas the symbol of love. The fish laid on the fire

Chap. XXL] ST. JOHN.

511

represented the reformation of the natural man by the good of love, of
Avhich description Avere all the men at that tim.e, in consequence of the
complete devastation of the church. It is said at the beginning of the
verse that the disciples saw aU this as soon as they came to land, to
instruct us that those Avho are progressing from truth to good  Avliieh
the sea and the land signify— see the provision which the Lord had
made for them Avhenever they have attained to a state of goodness.
10, 11. AVhen they Avere come to land, Jesus suith unto them. Bring
of the fish which ye have caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew
the net fo land full of greed fishes, an hundred and fifty and three :
and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus did
not at once invite them to partake of the bread and fish he had pro
vided, but desired them first to bring of the fish which they had
caught. There are two sources of spiritual intelligence aud faith, tiie
Lord and his Word, and it is only by receiving from both that we
can understand and believe. Good and Truth, as living principles,
come from the Lord himself, but good and truth as knoAvledge come
from the Avritten Word. There can be no true faith without instruc
tion, there can be no living faith without inspiration. The two must
co-exist and meet together in the mind, before any one can be tt
real Christian. Good and truth as living principles Avere represented
by the provision which the Lord had made for feeding the disciples,
truth as knoAvledge AA'as represented by the fish Avhich they themselves
had caught. Therefore, before giving them of tbe fish which Avas pre
paring for them, he commanded them to bring of the fish which they
had now caught. The internal gift and the internal actpurement were
to be brought together. The command given to the disciples gener
aUy, was acted on by Peter, implying that this was an act of faith,
in which, however, all the other graces were included. Obedience to
the Lord's command gives an elevation to faith — for Peter " Avent up."
Although it only raeans that he went up into the ship, to Avhich the
net was attached, yet the terra by Avhich that act is expressed has the
sense of ascendmg. Natural faith is changed into spiritual faith by
bemg raised out of the natural into the spiritual region of the mind ;
and this is effected when we act in obedience to the Lord's command
to brmg our acquired possessions to him, and lay them at his feet, iu
humble acknowledgment, that having obtained them by his poAver
and guidance, they are truly his. Peter's draAving the net to land
signifies bringing the acquired truths into connection with good, or
what is the same, raising thera out of the understanding into the will,
or what is still the same, out of the natural into the spiritual mind.

512 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXI
The net drawn to the shore was full of great fishes ; the term great is
expressive of the quality of goodness, the spiritual meaning being,
that truths acquired by acting from the immediate dictate of the Lord,
and under the influence of charity, are not merely mteUectual but
moral truths — truths Avhose essence is goodness. But the fishes were
not only great but numerous. And we have said that magnitude has
relation to the quality of a thing as to goodness, number expressing
the quality of a thing as to truth. The great fishes were in number a
hundred and fifty and three. These three numbers are expressive of
the three different kinds or degrees of knowledge which the Word
contains, and of the three different classes of persons who are tu
receive instruction from the Word, and to be draAvn, by means of
instruction, mto the church, namely, the celestial, the spiritual, and
the natural, or those who receive the truth in love, in faith, and in
obedience. This remarkable fact, that the net (Ud not break, wiU
appear stiU more remarkable, and wiU be seen to be stUl more signi
ficant, by comparing it Avith another of the same character. We fmd
that a miraculous draught of fishes marked the beginning and the end
of the Lord's intercourse with his disciples upon earth. Luke has
recorded, what the other evangelists have not mentioned, that on the
occasion of his calling Peter and James and John mto Ms service,
Jesus to avoid the press of the people on the land, entered into Simon's
ship, and taught the people out of the sMp ; and when he had left ofl
speaking he asked Simon to launch out into the deep, and let down
their nets for a draught. On that occasion also they toiled aU night
and had taken nothing ; but having at the Lord's word let down the
net, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, " and theh net brake."
It was then that Peter, in his astonishment, fell down at Jesus' knees,
saying, " Depart from me, for I am a sinfM man, 0 Lord :" m answer
to which Jesus said unto him, " Fear not : from henceforth thou shalt
catch men." This remark shows clearly that this fishing and the
miraculous draught Avere symbolical ; and we raay justly mfer that
the repetition of the miracle at the sea of Tiberias was symbolical also.
The breaking of the net on the first occasion, and not on the second,
must be designed to teach us, that the means of catching men was less
perfect at the tirae of their first call, than at the time of their last
commission, to preach the gospel. The works of redemption aud
glorification were completed at the time of the second mhacle ; there
fore the power of acquiring and imparting truth was mcreased ; the
means of salvation were more ample and perfect. The net not only en
closed but retained its multitude of fishes. A net (Matt. iv. 18) signifies

Chap. XXL] ST. JOHN. 513
doctrine, and also the knowledge of truth, and consequently the faculty
of knowing and understandmg. All these in the beginning of the
church and of individual regeneration are feeble, and unable to hold
fast that which is acquired. But when the Lord is glorified and man
is redeemed, the faculties are invigorated, and all the power of reason
ing and retaining truths is mcreased.
12. Jesus suifh unto them. Come und dine. And none of the dis
ciples durst ask him. Who art thou ? knowing that it was the Lord.
Hoav solemn an invitation ! The repast to which they were invited
was not in our sense a dinner, but rather a breakfast, which may ap
pear, not only from the meaning of the word, but from the circumstance
that it vvas early morning when the Lord appeared to them, after they
had toUed aU night and taken nothing. All this is expressive of a
new state, and the appropriation of new and higher principles of good
and truth. This was not indeed the first time since Ms resurrection
that the Lord had communicated with his disciples by means of the
eleraents of hfe ; but this was the first time he himself had provided
the repast and mvited them to eat of it. And it was suitable that this
first provision he had made for them shoMd be their first meal on that
eventful day, the type of the new day of their labours in the church of
their noAv glorified Redeemer. " Come and dine,'' was an invitation
wMch tbey themselves were henceforth to give to those who should
hunger and thirst after righteousness, that they might be filled with
the good things Avhich the Lord had provided, and now freely offered
to all without exception. SingMar it is that, Avlien invited to come
and dine, none of the disciples durst ask him, " Who art thou ? knoAv-
iug it Avas the Lord." This shows that they regarded him Avith pro
found reverence : they Avere so overawed by his presence that they
dared not ask him of his mysterious personality. They knew, yet they
deshed to ask ; they desired to ask, yet they dared not utter the ques
tion. They kncAv the Lord, we venture to think, not from his outward
appearance, but from the miracle he had performed for them, and frora
the circumstances ofthe case ; as he Avas knoAvn to the two who travelled
with him to Emmaus, not by Ms person, or his voice, but by his man
ner in the breaking of bread. Is there anything in our Christian ex
perience that answers to this ? Paul says, " Henceforth knoAv we no
man after the flesh ; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh,
yet now henceforth know we him no more" (2 Cor. v. 16). The dis
ciples had known the Lord after the flesh, both subjectively and objec
tively : tbey had known him when he was in the flesh, and when they
themselves were yet fleshly. So is it with every disciple ; he knows

514 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXL
the Lord after the flesh, whUe he knows him oMy after a carnal
manner, but when he becomes spiritually minded, he knows the Lord
no more after the flesh, but after the spirit. Then does he know the
Lord by his power, his wisdom, his love, by his working in Mm to
¦wiU and to do of His good pleasure. He knows the outward form of
Divhie Truth by knowing its power, as it affects the heart and under
standing. He does not dare to ask. Who art thou ? He does not dare
to question the identity of the truth, as it appears to Mm noAV, Avhen
he knows it after the spirit, with the truth as it appeared, when he knew
it after the flesh. It carries its OAvn evidence with it. He knows and
feels that it is the power of God unto salvation. TMs is stUl more fuUy
manUested in Avhat now foUows.
13. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish
likewise. Having invited his disciples to come to Mm, he now comes
to them. The Lord draws us to himseU that he may give himself to
us. Union is not effected Avithout reciprocation. He in us, and we m
him, is the laAv of conjunction. " I stand at the door and knock : if
any man hear my voice, and open the door, I wUl come m, and avUI
sup with Mm and he with me." The bread and fish which the Lord
gave his disciples are the spiritual food, the divme goodness and truth,
which he gives to feed the souls of his people — those who accept Ms
divme inAutation to come and dine.
14. John states that this is noio the third time that Jesus shewed
himself to his disciples after that he was risen from the dead. Alto
gether Jesus had been seen by his disciples more than tMee times.
Either this must be grounded in a distinction between being seen and
showing Mmself; or in the word "disciples" being intended to mean
a number of thera together. But the language of the Word is framed
so as to contain a higher than the natural meanmg. Three is no doubt
intended here to express completeness of manUestation ; that fuU and
final exhibition of their glorified Saviour, which gives the disciples to
know Jesus as that One in whom all fMness dweUs, — not merely as he
is m MmseU, God-man, but as he is m them, the perfection of Human
ity, glorified in theh redemption and salvation — risen in them from
the dead, and that dieth no more.
15-17. The Lord having fed Ms disciples, he now leads them, by
means of that symbolical act, to the divine lesson it was designed to
teach them. So, when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these ? He saith unto
him. Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him.
Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son

Ch.vp. XXL] S'T JOHN. 5 15
of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto Mm, Yea, Lord; thou
knowest that I love thee He saith unto him. Feed my sheep. He
saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thuu
me? And he said unto him. Lord, thou knowest all things; thou
knowest thcd I love thee. Jesus saith unto him. Feed my sheep. The
general lesson wMch the Lord teaches his disciples through Peter
seems to be, that as he had fed them, they were to feed his church.
His injunction Avas laid upon Peter, but it Avas laid upon him, not to
the exclusion of the other apostles, but in his representative character,
and oMy on him personally, as one of those Avhose sole Master was
Christ, and aU of whom Avere brethren. The name by AvMch the Lord
addresses the disciple, is expressive of the qualities aud character Avhioh
belong to one, aa'Iio is qualified for the office to AvMch Peter was noAV
to be finally appointed ; for Simon, son of Jonas, signifies faith derived
from charity ; Simon means hearing and obedience, and Jonas a dove,
Avhich is emblematical of charity. And Peter is addressed individually,
not that the charge he received was mtended for him exclusively, or
even pre-eminently, but because he represented the grace of faith, or
the intellectual principle, which is entrusted Avith the guardianship
aud nourishment of the Lord's flock. Peter represents those Avho are
established in the truth, strong in the faith, aud apt to teach. But
as faith is not saving uMess it has its life from love, the Lord
demands of Peter Avhether he possesses this allimportant grace.
" Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these ? " It is un
certain Avhether the question means, Lovest thou me more than these
thy bretMen love me ? or, Lovest thou me more than thou lovest these
temporal things which now engage thy attention ? Peter's answer is
a simple and positive one, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee."
He makes no ostentatious profession of Ms love, but appeals to the
Lord himself, who, he knew, needed not that any one shoMd testify of
man, nor that any man should testify of himseU, for he kiicAV what
was in man. How different is Peter's language now from that m
wMch he answered the Lord's prediction that he woMd deny him.
He then boasted of a constancy that he did not possess ; he now boasts
not of a love that he does possess. For an assurance of his love he
appeals to Him who, he had learnt by bitter experience, kncAv him
better than he knew himseU, and who had implanted that love m his
heart. Jesus responds to Ms appeal by laying upon him tMs great
duty, or rather entrustmg hhn Avith this exalted privilege — " Feed my
lambs." TMs is a charge committed, in an eminent degree, to the

516 ST JOHN, [Chap. XXL
ministers of the church, although it is by no means limited to them,
since aU may care for and minister to one another ; whUe in a more
interior sense, all are requhed to preserve and feed the remains of
innocence and charity, wMch the Lord has treasured up in every mind.
Innocence and charity are meant by lambs and sheep, and these are
the Lord's, whether they be regarded as prmciples in the minds of his
people, or as persons in whom these prmciples have any degree of
active existence. The question which the Lord addressed to Peter he
repeats three times, and three times does he lay the solemn charge
upon him, to feed and protect his sheep — for two (Ufferent words are
¦used by the Lord, which are not distmguished in our version, the
iirst meanmg to feed, the other to tend. Peter bemg tMee times
interrogated signifies a fuU period from the begmnmg of the church
to its end, for three has this signification ; and as the third time he
Avas questioned signifies the end of the church, it is said that Peter
was grieved when the Lord said unto him the thhd time, " Lovest
thou me ? " As tbe three times signUy a f uU period, from the begin
nmg to the end of the church, so do they signify its successive and
declining states. Therefore the Lord first charges Peter to feed his
lambs and then to feed his sheep. Lambs, of which the Lord Mst
speaks, denote those who are in the good of mnocence ; the sheep, of
which he speaks the second time, are those who are m the good of
charity ; and the sheep, of which he speaks the third time, are those
who are in the good of faith. Understood of the members of the
church mdividually, we are mstmcted that it is the ardent desire of
the Lord's divme love that his chUdren should nourish and defend
the mnocence, charity, and faith, wMch he implants in theh hearts
and minds, that they may grow up to be Ms fiock, and be brought
within Ms fold, and be under Mm as their own shepherd. It is not
undeserving of notice that as Peter denied the Lord three times, he
is thrice asked if he loves Ms Saviour. We need not suppose that
his tender Lord deshed to remind him of Ms sm. The coincidence is
grounded in the meanmg of the number three, as representing the
plenary deMal of the Lord in the old dispensation, and the plenary
acknowledgment of him m the new. And so by the old man and by
the new,
18, 19, As the three times mentioned by the Lord signify the
successive periods of the church, in regard to its faith, which Peter
represents, the Lord proceeds to describe the different quality of faith
at the begmning and at the end of the church. When Jesus had
concluded his charge to Peter, he addressed him m these remarkable

Chap. XXL] ST. JOHN. 517
words : Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Wlien thou wast young, thou
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest : but when thou
shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird
thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signify
ing by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken
this, he saith unto him, Follow me. In the literal sense this had
reference to Peter's martyrdom, as Peter hiraself understood it (2 Peter
L 14). But in the spiritual sense, it has reference to the state and
condition of faith at the beginning and at the end of the church.
Peter m Ms youth is faith, such as it is m the early period of the
church ; Peter in his old age is faith, such as it is at the end of the
church. When thus understood how striking is the figurative descrip
tion of the state of faith, and of the huraan understanding, in the
primitive and in the last times ! When Peter was young he girded
hhnseU and walked wMther he would ; when he became old he would
stietch forth his hands, and another would gird him, and can'y him
wMther be woMd not. There is the idea of freedom m the one case,
and of constraint m the other. In the early days of the church, the
understanding acts freely under the guidance of an enlightened and
fearless faith ; m the last days of the church, the understanding is
held under subjection to the dictates of a blmd and timid faith. In
the early days of the church, when faith was young, she ghded herself
and walked wMther she woMd ; she freely acquired and mvestigated
truth, and, by the force of free determmation, Uved accoriUng to it.
What is thus believed and done is believed and done from the Lord,
whose service is perfect liberty, whose love casteth out fear ; but what
is believed and done from constramt is from the world and seU,
whose service is bondage, and whose fear casteth out love. TMs
is described by Peter in his old age stretching forth his hands and
being ghded by another, wMch describes the state and condition of
faith at the end of the church. Then the moral and mteUectual
powers of the mmd are m a state of subjection to the AviU of man, and
the mmd is brought under the restramt of human error, instead of
being preserved in the liberty of divme truth. This state is exempU
fied m the operation of the theological maxim, that the understandmg
is to be held m subjection to the authority of faith. This sounds,
indeed, as if faith were mvested with aU power ; but such faith is
but a name for the unquestioned tyranny of human opinion, put forth
under the name of faith. When the mind is thus deprived of Christian
liberty, the facMties being forced and misdhected, the Ufe is determined
by the wiU of man and not of God. Faith walks wMther she would

518 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXL
not. Such is the condition of the church m regard to faith at this
day, differing widely from what it was in the days of the apostles, when
faith was young and free. When faith is in this state of bondage to
the AvUl and wisdom of man, Avhat is there in it that deserves the name
of faith? Faith is extinct, and a counterfeit has risen up in its stead.
But divine mercy and wisdom provide that Avhen faith expires in one
dispensation of the church, it shall rise up renewed in another, so that
even its death shall be the means of glorifying God, by exalting the
divine truth in the minds of men. Such is the Lord's prediction of
Peter's end. "TMs spake he, siguifymg by Avhat death he should
glorify God." Death has tAvo sides, and therefore two significations.
Ou the natural side it is the dissolution of the body ; on the spiritual
side it is the emancipation of the soul : so on one side it is the end of
the church, on the other it is its beginning. When the Lord had told
Peter by what death he should glorify God, he said unto him, " FoUow
me." Faith follows the Lord when it foUows his teachmg and walks
in the footsteps of his blessed example. But the Lord's command to
Peter includes the requirement, that faith folloAv no other than Mm
seU, for he is the way and the truth and the life, and the faith that
walks not after Mm walks in darkness.
20, 21. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus
loved following ; which also leaned on Ms breasted supper, and said.
Lord, ¦which is he that betray eth thee? Peter, seeing him, saith to
Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? The preceding mcident
relates entirely to Peter. TMs relates to John. These two disciples
represented, the tAvo essentials of religion, and, therefore, of the church.
What is recorded of them in the present case has reference to them in
their relation to the Lord, and as to Avhat would befall them m the
latter days. The circumstance recorded is a very singular one, smgular
to be introduced into so solemn a history, seeing it has no great
importance m itself, that it teaches no lesson either of faith or practice,
and that there is nothing apparently prophetic m its character. It is
nothmg if it is not symbolical. VicAved in connection with what we
have already considered, relatmg to Peter, it is deeply instructive.
Peter is the type of faith, John of love or charity. John describes
MmseU as the disciple whom Jesus loved, who leaned on his breast at
supper, and asked who shoMd betray him. Jesus loves m Ms disciples
the love they have derived from Mm ; love gives conjunction Avith him,
which is lying on Ms bosom, and love draws forth from the lips of
divme wisdom the revelation of what it is that betrays the trutii mto
the hands of its enemies. Peter is the type of faith. Peter and John

Chap. XXL] ST. JOHN. 519
are here represented as both following Jesus, Peter by command,
John spontaneously. Peter turning about, sees John foUowing, anil
addresses to the Lord expressions in Avhich there is something of jealousy
and depreciation of his felloAv disciple. Peter's turning symbolicaUy
describes faith averting itself from the Lord and looking back, and
divme wisdom teUs us that he that has put Ms hand to the plough aud
looketh back is not fit for the kingdom of heaven. This turnmo- of
Peter, and depreciating John, immediately after recelAung the command
to foUoAv the Lord, signifies that, soon after the commencement of the
church, faith woMd turn aAvay frora the Lord, and lightly esteem or
despise charity. It is AveU known that this vvas trMy the case. Soon
the leaders of the early church began to lose their singleness of faith,
aud theh warmth of mutual love and charity, and began to dispute
about the truth, especiaUy as it related to the Lord himself, turuino-
aAvay from hira as the One Object and Centre of their faith, and con-
tenuUng charity m their Avranghngs Avith each other. TMs contains a
solemn lesson for aU Avho consider themselves as members of the true
church. The church is a true church, and men are true members of
the church, only when they steadfastly look to and foUoAv the Lord,
and Avhen faith and love are united in good Avorks.
22. To Peter's question the Lord answered, // I will thcd he tarry
till I come, what is thut to thee ? follow thou me. TMs answer is not
the least singMar part of this singular circumstance. No satisfactory
explanation can be given of it but that which is supplied by the
internal sense. The second coming of the Lord is the event of which
our Lord speaks. AU commentators admit this : and to verify the
Lord's Avords, they assert that the Lord's coming, tiU Avhich John
shoMd Uve, was his coraing to destroy Jerusalem. Such an assumption
is quite arbitrary. The coming of the Lord is Ms coming in the clouds
of heaven — his second advent, to raise up a new church in place of
that Avhich he predicted would corae to an end. The Lord's prophetic
declaration respectmg John announces, that something of love and
charity would be preserved in the church even to the time of the
Lord's coming ; that, notwithstanding the prevalence and progress of
error and corruption, notwithstanding that faith itself would turn away
from the Lord, and would be bound aud even put to death, yet some
thmg of charity shoMd survive even to the time of the Lord's second
commg. The Lord teaches elsewhere that this woMd be the case.
He says, " "When the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the
earth ?" implying that there woMd be none. But he does not speak of
the utter extmction of love and charity : respecting this he says.

520 ST. JOHN. [Chap. XXL
" Because iniquity shaU abound the love of many shall wax cold ;"
but though cold with many, it was provided that it shoMd be pre
served with a few, since, Avithout some remains of charity, a ncAV
church could not have been commenced. There is stUl another truth
contamed m this circumstance. The church, which the Lord then
established, was to come to its end, to be followed by another and
Mgher dispensation. Between these dispensations there was to be
the same characteristic difference as there was between Peter and
John. The first dispensation of the Christian church may be said to
have been the Petrine church. It was the church of faith. Truth
Avas its predominant power, faith its cardinal grace. It was necessary
that it shoMd be so. The strong arm of truth was required to oppose
the errors of the world, and its instructive Avisdom was required to
teach the church. The second Christian dispensation may be said to
be a Johannine church. It is to be a dispensation of Love. And for
this reason, we may presume, John was selected to Avrite the book of
Revelation, which relates chiefly to the second dispensation. John
Avas, therefore, to tarry tUl the Lord should corae, and then become,
symbolically, the apostle of the second dispensation, as Peter had
been of the flrst. Besides these truths relating to the dispensations
of the general church, the chcumstance contains instruction to every
individual disciple. It teaches us that, as in the church, so m the in
dividual, truth precedes good, aud faith comes before charity ; and that
those who are disciples mdeed will thus receive Peter's command and
John's promise.
23. Then went this saying alrroad among the brethren, that thcd
discipile should not die: yet Jesus said not unto Mm, He shall not die;
but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee. The Lord's
words had given rise to the opinion among the brethren that John
should live to see the coming of the Lord, whUe Peter shoMd follow
Mm to the cross, dying, like his Master, a martyr to the truth. The
evangehst sets aside this traditional error by repeatmg what the Lord
had actually said of him. And what he said is certainly sufficiently
mysterious, regarded in the natural sense. Jesus did not say of John
that he should not die, yet he said what, if the disciples had known
the time of the Lord's coming, must have seemed equivalent to it.
The tradition of the brethren was wrong as to the letter but right as
to the spirit of the Lord's words. Yet what they came to believe
regarding John was not what the Lord had said. And as divme
language has a specific meaning, it is on this account that we are
remmded of the very words which Jesus uttered. The word used

Chap, XXL] ST. JOHN, 521
to express John's tarrying has also the sense of abiding, dweUing, and,
as a noun, means a dAveUmg, a mansion. So in this gospel (i. 38.)
we read that two of John's disciples said unto Jesus "where dwellest
thou?" And when invited to come and see, " they came and saAv
where he dwelt, and abode with hhn that day." Our Lord promises,
" If a man love me he wiU keep my AA'ords ; and my Father avUI love
hhn; and we wiU come unto him and make our abode with hhn"
(xiv. 23). And to those Avho are striving earnestly after the heaveMy
Ufe, hoAvever unequal their success may be, he gives the happy assur
ance, "In my Father's house are many mansions" (v. 2). The
Lord's mysterious words respectmg John, that he AvUled that the
beloved disciple should tarry tiU he came, contain the promise that
Mthough faith shoMd faU charity would endure unto the end ; however
desolate the church nught become, charity would find some habitation
for herself, as a refuge in times of trouble. DAvelling or abiding is
expressive also of a persistent state of good in the will ; and this is just
the state which is here described, HoAvever much the church may be
desolated by reasonings and perversions of the truth, there is always
somethmg of good preserved in the mmds of the simple, on which the
truth may be grafted, when the Lord comes to give new light to guide
the feet of charity into the ways of peace.
Here John's record of the Lord's sayings and doings ends, and it is a
conclusion fuU of hope and comfort. It is an ending that looks to a be
gmning, that reveals the meaui by which the church of his first advent
is so far preserved as to be able to pass over into the church of his second
advent. It is charity that bridges over the chasm, that forms the waj'-
by which the Lord passes from the Old mto the New. Those who are
in the good of charity are the remnant that is saved, the elect who are
gathered together frora the four winds, to forra the nucleus of the new
(Uspensation, for these accept the Lord at his coming ; these are they
of whom it is -written, " To them that look for Mm shaU he appear the
second thne without sm unto salvation.''
24. Tliis is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote
these things; and we know that his testimony is true. John's de
claration, that he whom Jesus loved, and who leaned on his breast at
supper, is the disciple wMch testifieth these thmgs, is a declaration
that the Mstory of the Lord's hfe, as written by him who was the
type of love, is such as to present the Lord's character and mmi-
stry in an aspect that is best adapted to produce and strengthen
the grace of love in the hearts of believers. This gives a pe
culiar and exalted character to the gospel of John as a revelation to
all men. But this fact has a peculiar application to ourselves. To

522 ST JOHN. [Chap. XXI.
be effectual for our salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ must not only
be written for us but within us. And this gospel of John — this
gospel of love, is never the gospel in us tiU love has testified its truth
in our understandings and written it in our hearts. It is then we
know Ms testiraony is true — the very tmth as it is in Jesus. Love
is the Mghest evidence of truth. AVe believe it to be true when the under
standing acknowledges it, but Ave know it to be tme when the heart
approves it. Although the inteUect is the faculty by which Ave reason
out propositions and arrive at conclusions, yet the understanding itself
is influenced by the wUl, in which the yea, yea, and the nay, nay, reside ;
and there is an affirmative and a negative tendency imparted by it to aU
our mteUectual operations. This is the case especially in moral and
religious questions, Avhose ultimate appeal is to our affections and our
conduct. It is not till the understanding and the wUl unite their con
sent to the truth that we know it to be the truth. This is the reason
that the apostle says, " and we knoAv that his testimony is tme."
25. Having stated that this is the disciple which testifieth these
thmgs, and wrote these things, John proceeds to say. And there are
also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be
written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written. This is considered a mere figure of
speech to express the great amount of the Lord's unwritten life. No
doubt many thmgs were said and done by the Lord, even during Ms
public ministry, besides those which the evangelists have recorded.
And it is one of the deep thmgs hid in the treasury of divine Avis
dom, that so ranch that Avas uttered and done by the Incarnate Word
should have passed unrecorded in the written Word, which is the fulness
of revelation, and the verbal form of the Word made flesh. NotMng,
however, wMcli the Lord said or tUd Avas lost. Every word he spa,ke,
every work he performed, was written in heaven and mscribed in Ms
own humanity ; for it became a part of his rederaption and glorMcation,
and was thus permanently fixed in those eternal reMities which the Word
raakes known. The glorified Word has thus written in it the results
of the Lord's great work on earth; and from the Word glorified, now
far above aU heavens, and which aU worlds, and even the heaven of
heavens cannot contain, the (Uvine influence descends, both imme(Uatel3'
and through the Word revealed, into the church in heaven, and thence
into the church on earth, to unite them into one, and make that one the
mcreasmgly perfect image of the Lord's Divine Humanity.
Amen is the response of the church, and should be that of every
human heart, to the great and consolatory truths which the beloved
apostle was the chosen instrument of revealing to manldnd.

ROBERT R. SUTHEaLAKD, PRINTER, HADDINGTON PLACE WORKS, EDINBURGH.

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