: salem, Is not this he whom they seek to kill? But lo, he speak- 26 eth boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Howbeit, we know this man, 27 whence he is but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. Then cried Jesus in the temple, as he taught, saying, 28 Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him; for I am from him, and he hath sent me. 29 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, 30 because his hour was not yet come. kill. rusalem, who were aware of the hostility of the rulers against him; and strangers from abroad, who were ignorant of it. These different classes speak at different times; the first, ver. 45, 47, 52, chap. v. 10, 12; the second, in the present instance, and ver. 11–13, 25-27; and the third, ver. 20, 31, 40.—Whom they seek to The plot against Jesus' life was known to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They say nothing unto him. Because they feared the people. Mat. xxvi. 5. Do the rulers know, &c. They were not aware of the true reason, which deterred the members of the Sanhedrim from laying violent hands on Jesus, but appear to think that they acquiesced in his claims as the Messiah, and thus wholly changed their minds in relation to putting him to death. Very. This word is considered an interpolation by Griesbach and others. 27. We know this man, &c. Ver. 41, chap. vi. 42. -No man knoweth. A traditional argument against the claims of Jesus to the Messiahship; for an opinion existed among the Jews, springing, perhaps, from Is. liii. 8, as interpreted by them, "And who shall declare his generation?"that after Christ was born, he would be snatched away and kept in retirement until Elijah, or one of the ancient prophets, came to anoint and manifest him to the world. Whence he is, i. e. as to both his parentage and place of birth. And many of the people 31 28. Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am. This may be better read, as most critics decide, as a question. "Do ye both know me ? " &c. Jesus takes up their own words, as the foundation of his remarks. But he that sent me is true. Or, is trustworthy. Haynes translates the passage thus: "I came not of myself, but it is the true One," that is, the true God, who hath sent me. Others understand true adverbially, and read the clause thus: "I am not come of myself; my commission is not selfcreated, but truly He sent me, whom ye know not." The ignorance of the Jews respecting the character, requirements, and designs of God, had incapacitated them from receiving Jesus as the Messiah. There was not that in them which was congenial with a spiritual Saviour, and with a holy God. 29. I know him. His counsels, unknown to you, are known to me. -1 am from him. Or, as some read, with nearly the same sense, on account of the similarity of the Greek verbs, "I come from him." It is observable, through these and similar verses, that it is his divine commission, not a divine nature, which is the truth insisted on by Jesus. 30, 31. Then they sought to take him. Because they were exasperated by his professing a superior acquaintance with the divine purposes. - His hour, i. e. the season of his death. Probably the Jewish rulers were re believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more 32 miracles than these which this man hath done? The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him and the Pharisees and the chief-priests sent officers to take him. 33 Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and 34 then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall 35 not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come. Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gen36 tiles, and teach the Gentiles? What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where thither ye cannot come? I am, strained in their insidious plots by the fear of the people. Mat. xxi. 46. Christ, i. e. the Messiah, who, they hesitated to believe, had now appeared in the person of Jesus. Will he do more miracles, &c. It was expected by the Jews that the Messiah would work miracles, and we have here the distinct acknowledgment that such wonders were performed by our Saviour. Elsewhere, Nicodemus, chap. iii. 2, and the chief-priests and Pharisees, chap. xi. 47, confessed the same truth, - - a valuable testimony to the reality of the facts, though they did not yield to the conclusions deducible therefrom. Compare also Acts ii. 22, iv. 16. 32. The Pharisees heard that the people, &c. Here the actuating motive of the persecutors of Jesus is revealed. They feel a species of rivalry against him; they fear the loss of their popularity and authority, and never can pardon him for gaining the affections, and even, in some measure, the belief, of his countrymen. Death, the cross, alone can make reparation. 33, 34. Yet a little while am I with you, &c. Or, "my purpose is to continue with you only a short time; my departure to him that sent me is at hand. The time of distress will come on you, when ye shall in vain seek me as your deliverer, Mat. xxiv. 23, - - Thither ye cannot come, i. e. to vent upon me your malice. I shall be beyond the reach of your insidious designs, in a state, for which you possess no congeniality, and into which, therefore, you cannot enter. 35, 36. Unto the dispersed among the Gentiles. Or, Greeks, as the margin reads. The Jews were already scattered, before the destruction of their temple and city, through almost all countries. Teach the Gentiles. Whether this means literally Gentiles, or foreign and Hellenistic Jews, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and 37 cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his 38 belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the 39 Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet is a disputed point. To express the greatest taunt, however, they rise to a climax, and seem to intimate, that Jesus would go not only to the dispersed Jews, but, perhaps, even teach the Gentiles, the hated, despised Gentiles, for whom they had no terms too opprobrious. How little they were aware, that Christ would, though not in person, yet by means of his apostles, proffer his religion to the Gentiles, and that to him would be given the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession! 37-39. That great day of the feast. Lev. xxiii. 36. This was the eighth day, and was distinguished by unusual ceremonies. As the Scripture hath said. Referring to the spirit of several passages, rather than to any one in particular. Deut. xviii. 15; Ps. xlvi. 4; Is. xii. 3, lviii. 11; John iv. 14, vi. 35. — But this spake he of the Spirit. Which descended on the apostles on the day of Pentecost. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, &c. One of those clauses of explanation, frequent in this Gospel. The descent of the Spirit had not yet taken place, for Jesus had not yet suffered, risen from the dead, and ascended to heaven."On the last and great day of the feast, the services of the temple were peculiarly magnificent. Then all the people forsook their tabernacles, and crowded the courts of the sanctuary. The officiating priests were arranged in due form before the altar. A golden vessel of water from the spring of Siloam was brought, the bearer crying aloud, 'With joy we draw water from the well of Salva tion.' The words were taken up and repeated by the assembled multitudes. The water was mingled with wine, and poured upon the altar, amidst the shouts of the people, (in commemoration of their forefathers receiving water from the rock smitten by Moses in the wilderness, and with an invocation for a supply of rain in the approaching seed time.) This was the ceremony of which-it was commonly said among the Jews, 'He who has not seen the joy of the drawing of water, has seen no joy.' Now, we cannot help imagining it was in some sort of connexion with this impressive ceremony,-probably in one of the pauses or intervals of the service, that, as we read, Jesus stood up and cried, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, and from within him shall flow rivers of living water.' The stirring cry had just burst from all lips, 'With joy we draw water from the well of Salvation.' The water of Siloam was pure and refreshing to the sense, and hallowed to the mind of the multitude. But Jesus said, 'Come unto me, and I will slake your thirst. A full, rich and perennial fountain of blessedness I will open in your hearts.' circumstances of the occasion were so impressive, that, as the narrative goes on to inform us, many of the people, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth, this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ.' And then, too, it was, that the officers sent to take Jesus, returned without him, saying, 'Never man spake like this man. - FURNESS. The 40 glorified.). Many of the people therefore, when they heard 41 this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, 44 This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of 42 Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David 43 was? So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid 45 hands on him. Then came the officers to the chief-priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought 46 him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. 47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one 49 50 40-42. The Prophet. Chap. i. 21, and note. One of the old prophets was expected to reappear and precede the Messiah. -The Scripture. Mic. v. 2; Mat. ii. 5, 6.— Bethlehem. It has been thought, that if Jesus had been born in this place, he would have declared it at this time; but it is evident, upon reflection, that if he had done it, it would only have enkindled a dangerous popular enthusiasm, or excited the jealousy of Pilate, as his birth did that of Herod, instead of shedding any light on the true nature of his kingdom, as a spiritual one. Chap. i. 46. 46. Never man spake like this man. This testimony to the power of Christ's teaching, is the more remarkable on account of the source from whence it came. "Children raised their feeble voices in hosannas to the Son of David; and females sat at his feet and ministered to his wants; and youths followed in the train of his disciples: but children, youths, and females, may be supposed to have been borne away by the impulse of guileless, unsuspecting, generous feeling; while the officers of a judicial court would, from the very nature of their customary occupation, contract something of hard ness and callousness; they would be comparatively unimpressible; they would have learned, in their obdurate avocation, to make a merit of stopping their ears to the voice of the charmer, charmed he ever so wisely; and it must have been no common strain which awoke such a response in their rough bosoms.". -Fox. The power of Jesus' words consisted in the deep internal and spiritual experience and consciousness of union with God, with which he uttered them. He spoke with unrivalled force, because he felt God speaking within him; because, to use the bold hyper-/ bole, quoted in Olshausen, "his words are thunderbolts, whose life is lightning." 47-49. Stung with envy and chagrin, the Pharisees can only vent their exasperated feelings upon the unsuccessful officers, and the common people, who had not enjoyed those advantages for studying the law, which they had themselves so unwisely and so unfaithfully used. The law. It is thought that the oral law and traditions were included in this term, as well as the written law of Moses. 50. Nicodemus. Chap. ii. A fa of them,) Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and 51 know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art 52 thou also of Galilee? search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went unto his own house. vorable impression was made on the mind of Nicodemus by his visit and conversation with Jesus. He that came to Jesus privately, by night, is now emboldened to speak a word in his behalf by day, even in the formidable council of Seventy. Acts v. 3440 relates the greater success of Gamaliel, on another occasion, in staying the uplifted arm of persecution. 51. Doth our law judge, &c. Or, condemn. Ex. xxiii. 1; Deut. i. 16, 17, xix. 15. It is an established principle of jurisprudence, that every man is to be regarded as innocent, until he is proved to be guilty; and it were well, if the same maxim were observed also in all private judgments of the characters of others. Says an old writer, "The method of our law is oyer and terminer, first to hear, and then to determine. The scale of justice must be used before the sword of justice." 52, 53. Art thou also of Galilee? Or, disposed to take the part of this man of Galilee-language used in reproach to Nicodemus, for saying even an indirect word in opposition to their outrageous course of proceedings against the Messiah. Search, and look. A frequent formulary of words among the Jewish doctors, enjoining careful investigation. 53 accurate in the use of language. — And every man went, &c. At a loss what to do, the people inclining to the side of Jesus, the officers so awestruck by his preaching as to be incapable of seizing his person, and even one of the Sanhedrim not fearing to espouse the cause of justice in his favor, the council broke up without taking any farther measures, and every man withdrew to his own house, absorbed in reflecting upon the wonderful events of the day. Verse 53 properly belongs to chap. viii. (1.) We are taught, ver. 15, 16, 28, that the instructions of Jesus descended originally from the Father of all, the Fountain of truth and love, and are consequently precisely adapted to our condition and wants, and worthy of our devout study, cordial reception, and earnest obedience. (2.) The most powerful and intimate persuasion of the truth of religion, comes to the believer from his own experience of its power in his heart and life, rather than from external and historical arguments, though these outer bulwarks of Christianity are far from being useless, ver. 17. "A man of subtle reasoning asked Had never reached his ear; (3.) The effect of the gospel of Jesus, in unsealing the inward and immortal springs of our being, is beautifully described in ver. 37, 38. Christianity calls forth and exercises every good affection and pure desire |