of them, and saith unto them, | These are the words which I Peace be unto you. spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? comb. 45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 42 And they gave him a piece 49 And behold, I send the of a broiled fish, and of a honey-promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jeru43 And he took it, and did salem, until ye be endued with eat before them. power from on high. 44 And he said unto them, 41. Believed not for joy. Just as almost every one says, when some astonishing event, of a most joyful character, is related to him, " Is it possible? It cannot be; I am certainly dreaming. Surely, I am deceived." And we are not surprised, if he withholds his belief till a more calm state of mind has ensued, or confirmation on confirmation is given, as it was in the present instance. 44. These are the words, &c. The events which have now taken place, namely, my death and resurrection, are in accordance with the instructions which I gave while I was with you, before I was crucified, when I insisted that all the things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, &c. 45. Then opened he their understanding, &c He specially enlightened 50 And he led them out as them by a divine influence. Compare Acts 16: 14. The instructions which Jesus proceeded to give, and of which Luke furnishes a summary in the following verses, were doubtless imparted at various times during the Saviour's forty days' stay on earth after his resurrection. See Acts 1: 3. 46. It behoved; it was necessary and proper. || Christ; the Messiah. 49. I send the promise of my Father; I will bestow on you that which my Father has promised. He referred to the Holy Spirit, by whose influences the apostles were to become thoroughly qualified to be the Messiah's ambassadors and representatives. See John 14: 16, 17, 26. 15:26. 16:7, 13, 14. || Tarry ye, &c. Compare Acts 1: 8.2: 4. 50, 51. See Mark 16: 19. far as to Bethany: and he lifted 52 And they worshipped him, up his hands, and blessed them. and returned to Jerusalem with 51 And it came to pass, while great joy; he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. 52. And they worshipped him; they bowed down in token of homage. See also Acts 1:11. The circumstances show that more than civil respect was paid to Jesus by the apostles on this occasion. They had received much instruction from him since his resurrection, and their views respecting him had become much enlarged and corrected. Their reverence for their Master had greatly increased; and when, after so much elevating and endearing intercourse, they saw 53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen. him (Acts 1: 9, 10) rising to heaven, NOTE ON LUKE 21: 18, p. 110. There shall not a hair, &c. These words contain a promise of special divine protection. Compare Acts 27: 34. The followers of Christ, as a collective body, would enjoy such protection; and though some of them might suffer death (v. 16) yet even they would meet with no real loss. Their eternal welfare would be secured. PREFACE TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. JOHN was a son of Zebedee, and was associated with his father in the occupation of fishing on the lake Gennesaret. See Matt. 4:21. Mark 1: 19, 20. His mother's name was Salome. Compare Matt. 27: 56 with Mark 16: 1. From the manner of expression in the first chapter of John's Gospel, vs. 35 and 40, there is reason to believe that he was a disciple of John the Baptist, and that he was among the first who welcomed Jesus as the Messiah. Between him and the Saviour there seems to have existed a peculiar mutual intimacy. See John 13: 23, 24. 19:26, 27. Though, on one occasion, he was betrayed into an unworthy fervor of feeling through a mistaken zeal for the honor of his Master (Luke 9:54), yet his general character partook largely of the benevolence which was so conspicuous in Jesus himself. He also manifested, on two other occasions, an unholy, ambitious selfishness (Mark 9:38. Matt. 20:20, 21, compared with Mark 10:35), which yielded, at length, in the maturity of his religious character, to humility and fraternal love. The other notices of him which are found in the New Testament, prove his steady and zealous devotion to the cause of his Master. See Acts 3: 1. 4: 13, 19, 20. 8:14, 25. Gal. 2:9. Rev. 1:9. The accounts which have been handed down from the earliest times, after the writings of the New Testament, bear testimony to his unwearied assiduity in promoting the welfare of the churches, and cherishing the spirit of brotherly love among the followers of Christ. I cannot prevail on myself to omit the interesting anecdote which has been so often told, but which never loses its freshness. "When John was far advanced in age, he was too feeble to walk to the meetings. He suffered himself then to be carried in by his disciples. Being unable to speak much, he repeated continually the words, 'Little children, love one another.' And when it was asked why he always repeated these words alone, he replied, 'Because such is the commandment of the Lord, and because it is sufficient, if this is done.'" He lived beyond the age of ninety years, and died a natural death at Ephesus, in Asia Minor. From the earliest dates of Christianity, John has been acknowledged as the author of this Gospel. It was written the last of the four Gospels in the order of time, and probably not long before the year WA of the Christian era. It is believed to have been written in Ephesus. Its explanations of Jewish terms (see, for instance, 1: 38, 41. 6:4) indicate that it was written at some distance from Palestine; for such explanations would not be needed in the very country of the Jews. The Gospel of John differs materially in its structure from the other Gospels. It is not so much a record of facts, as a record of the Saviour's discourses and conversations. The events which John relates seem to have been recorded mostly in order to introduce the conversations, or discourses, to which they gave rise; and such a selection was made from our Lord's discourses as would most amply illustrate the dignity of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men, and THE SON OF GOD, not only by his office, but also by his possessing a divine nature. The mind of John was deeply impressed with a sense of the unspeakable excellence and glory of the Saviour; and he wished to convey to his readers the same impression. GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. with God, and the Word was the God. CHAPTER I. N the beginning was Word, and the Word was IN CHAPTER I. 1. In the beginning. Compare Gen. 1: 1. The connection clearly shows, that these words relate to the beginning of the creation, or to the period when the world was not yet brought into existence. It is equivalent to the expression when the world began, and carries back our minds to the very commencement of time. || The Word. By this term, the evangelist designates Christ as existing in a spiritual nature, before time began. Previously to our Saviour's coming into this world, he existed (see 17: 5, 24) in a purely spiritual nature. To designate him in that nature, not yet as a partaker of human nature, John employed this term. Why he selected this particular term, we are unable to say with perfect confidence; nor is it necessary, since he clearly uses it as a kind of proper name applied to Christ in his preëxistent state. That Christ was meant, is plain from the fourteenth verse, and from the mention of John the Baptist as bearing witness of him (vs. 6-8). The term in the Greek language corresponding to word, had been employed by some Greek and Jewish philosophers, in their speculations respecting the Deity, to signify a being whom they supposed to exist, of a very exalted nature, and holding a very intimate relation to the Deity. Their speculations had occasioned the term Word to be extensively known in conversations and discussions about the Deity. Among the Jews in general, also, a term corresponding to Word had come into frequent use as signifying that exalted Being who is described in the Old Testament as appearing to the patriarchs and other distinguished men, and who used language respecting himself appropriate to the Deity. That Being they generally believed to have been the Messiah in his preexistent state of glory, thus occasionally revealing himself to his people for instruction and consolation, and anticipating the manifestation which he was, in after ages, to make to the nation. Thus it happened that this term was very widely diffused as a religious term, and as particularly referring either to Him who was to be the Messiah, or to an exalted spiritual nature conceived to exist in very intimate connection with the Deity. When, then, John was about to speak of the Messiah, in his spiritual nature, as existing before time began, and as most intimately connected with the Deity, and as possessing attributes and performing deeds appropriate to the Deity, the term Word would naturally occur to his mind. There had, indeed, been connected with that term various erroneous notions; but John could avoid the sanctioning of those errors, by giving himself a description of Him to whom he applied it. While the term, then, was derived from common use, the nature and character of the Being expressed by that term must be learned from John's own description. The Word was with God; was intimately united with God. It may be interesting to notice, that the term Word is applied by John to Christ not only in his state of existence before time began, but |