AS JESUS PROVED BY HIS WORKS THAT HE WAS THE CHRIST, SO LET US BY THE WORKS

JOHN X. 24-.8.

24 Then came-the Jews-round-about EKUKλwo av him, and said unto-him, How long dost-thou-make us to-doubt TηY UN-ALPES? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I-told you, and ye-believed not: the works that I do in my 26 Father's name, they bear-witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye-are not of my 27 sheep, as I-said unto-you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they-follow 28 me: and I give unto-them eternal life; and they-shall- never -perish, neither shall

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTES.

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

[Jno. x. 24. When the right term, by reason of its abuse, would convey a wrong impression, it may be well to refrain from using it, unless in speaking to those who in some measure understand its true import, or are willing to be instructed.]

[Thus Jesus, in conversing with the Jews, whose notions of the Messiah were far short of the truth, did not call himself by a name which to them would have conveyed no adequate impression respecting his person, character, and work.]

25 ver. The darkness in the Divine communications, of which men are prone to complain, may be on account of their own inattention or misapplica

tion, rather than any indistinctness of utterance on the part of our great Teacher.

26 ver. If we would truly know the privileges of the believer in Christ, let us be in truth his disciples.

27 ver. Let us receive Christ in all his offices; listening to his instructions as a Prophet; availing ourselves of his Priestly sympathy and intercession; and following him, the Captain of our salvation, our King.

28 ver. Let us prize the words of Christ, whereby we are made partakers of everlasting life. Let us rejoice that they who have communion with Christ by a living faith, and loving obedience, can never be

OF HIM ARE YE IN CHRIST JESUS, ETC.-1 Cor. i. 30.

WHICH THE FATHER HATH GIVEN US TO DO, MAKE MANIFEST THAT WE ARE CHRISTIANS.

SING UNTO HIM, SING PSALMS UNTO HIM: TALK YE OF ALL HIS WONDROUS WORKS.-Psalm cv. 2.

JOHN X. 29-34.

29 any man-pluck them out-of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater 30 than-all; and no man is-able to-pluck them out-of my Father's hand. I and my Father 31 are one év coμev. Then the Jews took-up stones again to stone him. 32, Jesus answered them, Many good works have-I-shewed you from my Father; for which dia 33 TOLOV of those works do-ye-stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a-good work we-stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because-that thou, being a-man, 34 makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is-it not written in your law, I said, Ye-are

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.

greater than all-acknowledged by Israel, when by the Lord's might that people were delivered out of Egypt, Ex. xv. 6-19, and again when the Lord gave Elijah to triumph over the priests of Baal, the god of fire, 1 Ki. xviii. 17-40-His preserving power is declared in many of the Psalms, as cxxi.; cxlv.; cxlvi., &c., and will be sung amid the greatest changes, as Rev. xi. 15-.9.

Jno. x. 29. My Father, which gave, &c.—see on ch. | seize upon his inheritance, 1 Ki. xxi. 10-.4-The xvii. 2-9, § 87, p. 399. scribes early began to meditate this charge against Christ on account of his forgiving sins, Mk. ii. 7, § 22, p. 165-It was on the charge of blasphemy, for declaring himself the Christ, the Son of God, that he was finally condemned by the high-priest, Mt. xxvi. 63—.6, § 89, p. 428, being a man, makest thyself God-referring to what he bad said, ver. 30-see also ch. v. 17, .8, § 23, p. 176, Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.'-In order that Jesus should be the Christ that had been promised, it was necessary that He should be both God and man, as Is. vii. 14, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.'-See on Emmanuel, Mt. i. 23, § 2, p. 14-also on What think ye of Christ?' ch. xxii. 42, § 85, p. 306-He required to be man to suffer as predicted, Is. liii.; and men could not have been blessed, as putting their trust in him, unless he had been God-comp. Je. xvii. 5-8, with Ps. i., ii.— comp. also Is. xlv. 21-.5, with Phil. ii. 5-11.

30. I and my Father are one-see this oneness very fully declared, ch. v. 19-26, § 23, p. 177-see also ver. 38, p. 123-ch. xii. 45, § 85, p. 311, he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.'-So to Philip, ch. xiv. 9-11, § 87; xvi. 15, § ib., All things that the Father hath are mine:-The perfect example of oneness, ch. xvii. 21--.3, § ib.

31. again-They had before sought to kill him, on account of his declaring the same truth, ch. v. 18, § 23, p. 177; and when thereafter he visited Jerusalem, and vindicated what he had before said and done, then took they up stones to cast at him,' ch. viii. 59, § 55, p. 108.

32. Many good works, &c.-The scripture account implies that many were wrought by Jesus at Jerusalem-see ch. ii. 23; iii. 2, § 12, pp. 82, .3; iv. 45, § 14, p. 100-Two, both of them wrought upon the sabbath, are particularly mentioned-see ch. v. § 23, p. 175, and ix. § 55, p. 109-The first of these is said to be the cause of Jesus being persecuted, ch. v. 16, § 23, p. 176-Probably much of the heat of his persecutors is accounted for, Ec. iv. 4, Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour.'

33. blasphemy-the punishment appointed for which was stoning, Lev. xxiv. 14-.6-The same charge was falsely brought against Naboth, that the king might

34. Is it not written, &c.-The passage here quoted by our Saviour was peculiarly applicable to the circumstances-Ps. lxxxii. speaks of God as standing in the congregation of the mighty,' pleading in behalf of the poor and needy,' represented in the person of Christ, God in our nature; the language of whose life is expressed in the words of the psalm, ver. 3, 4, Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.'The result is expressed in the utterance, Jno. xi. 49--53, § 58-The psalm proceeds, ver. 6-8, 'I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most high. 7, But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. 8, Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.-That the

NOTES.

Jno. x. 30. I and my Father are one. Being the very same in nature, power, and every other perfection, as well as in will and design, we, the Father and the Son, must be both overcome before the weakest of the chosen ones can be deprived of eternal life.

This oneness of Christ with the Father, the Jews plainly understood as expressive of something more than unity of design in the work of Christ. Had they not regarded it as signifying one in counsel and power, as the verses preceding shew he meant, they would not have sought to stone him as a blasphemer, who made himself God.

stones,' Le. xxiv. 14-.6.

From my Father. Meaning, in virtue of the power vested in me by my Father.'

33. Makest thyself God. See ch. v. 18, § 23, p. 177. This shews how they understood what he had said. [34. Is it not written? In repelling the above charge, our Lord was pleased not fully to explain the Deity, and the grounds on which he had called God nature of that union which he had claimed with the his Father, and himself the Son of God; but contented himself with using a sort of argument quite in the Jewish style (and therefore adapted to make an impression on his hearers), reasoning with them on the ground of what they themselves admitted, namely, that he was a prophet sent from God, and showing that, even on that supposition, he had a right to the title which they refused him; alluding to Ps. lxxxii. 6, where judges and magistrates are called Elohim, sons of the most high God. Argumentum (says Calvin) autem quo utitur non a paribus sumptum est, sed a minori ad majus.'-Bloomf.] and [see on ch. xv. 25, § 87, p. 391. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

31. Took up stones. Barracay Abous, They carried 32. Many good works, &c. All the miracles which Jesus had wrought were good works,' works of mercy and kindness: but there may here be a reference not only to the wonderful miracles which Christ wrought, but to his whole course of action in promulgating the gospel of grace.

lost.

He who came to seek and to save that which was lost, who hath known us in adversity, will know us through life and death, and acknowledge us before the Father, and before his holy angels.

Jno. x. 29. We have nothing to fear as being obedient to our King. God, as a Father, will defend with his almighty arm the faithful followers of his Son.

When evil threatens, let us ever think that God is greater than all; and that nothing can in reality harm us, so long as we allow our case to remain in his hand.

122]

[30, .1 ver. It is hard to deal with those who think themselves wise in that of which they are ignorant. The Jews accused Jesus of not saying plainly that he was the Christ; and yet, upon his telling them that he is what Messiah must be-One with God-they seek to destroy him.]

32 ver. The many good works of Jesus were a sufficient seal to his Divine mission.

33 ver. Let us not be rash in listening to ecclesiastical denunciations. That which the Jews called blasphemy, we know to be most important truth, that Jesus the Christ is truly Man, and as truly God.

CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG, AND IS KIND;-1 Cor. xiii. 4.

[VOL. II.

GLORY YE IN HIS HOLY NAME: LET THE HEART OF THEM REJOICE THAT SEEK THE LORD.-Psalm cv. 3.

THE NATURAL MAN RECEIVETH NOT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD: FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM:

JOHN X. 35-.9.

35 gods? If he-called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture 36 can-not-be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father hath-sanctified, and sent into the 37 world, Thou-blasphemest; because I-said, I-am the-Son of-God? If I-do not the works 38 of my Father, believe me not. But if I-do, though ye-believe not me, believe the works: 39 that ye-may-know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. Therefore they-sought again to-take him but he-escaped enλ0ev out-of their hand.

[Ver. 40, see p. 125.]*

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTES.

NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED.-1 Corinthians ii. 14.

I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING, SAITH THE LORD,

ADDEND A.

THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION.—John x. 22, p. 120.

'The feast of dedication, Jno. x. 22, is evidently the feast next in order to the feast of tabernacles, ch. vii. 2; and it is another presumptive proof, either that our Lord had been absent during all the intermediate time from Jerusalem, or nothing had since occurred upon the spot, similar to what had taken place before; that we meet upon this occasion also with the mention of a renewed attempt to stone him, ch. x. 31. The máλv in this allusion can be referred to ch. viii. 59, an incident at the feast of tabernacles only. We may conclude, therefore, that since the time of the feast of tabernacles, our Saviour and the Jews of Jerusalem did not meet again, until they met in Solomon's porch; or if they had, that nothing again occurred like what occurred before. The former of these suppositions is confirmed by the silence of St. John, and the latter is negatived by the experience of the past; for had they ever met again as before, something, it may justly be presumed, would have arisen to make the adversaries of Jesus desirous of stoning him as before.

The proceedings at this feast, as related, beginning with ch. x. 22, cannot embrace more than a single day; and being prematurely terminated by the attempt upon the life of Christ, these particulars themselves are probably the whole of what then transpired, at least in public. After the day of that attempt, Jesus appeared no more openly; and until that day he does not seem to have visited the temple. The conversation in the porch of Solomon, which took place upon that day, occurred on the first opportunity furnished by his appearance in public.

SOLOMON'S

'The feast of dedication began on the 25th of the Jewish Casleu, and lasted for eight days in all. The 25th of Casleu was the sixty-ninth day inclusive, from the 15th of Tisri exclusive, and consequently in the third year of our Saviour's ministry, when Tisri fell upon October 11th, Casleu 25th fell upon December 19th. The first of the eight days then coincided with December 19th, and the last with December 26th; a statement sufficient by itself to prove that the feast of dedication this year fell out in the midst of a Jewish winter, which yet would not be always the case. But this year the passover fell as late as it could, and therefore so did every other feast; if the passover had fallen as early as it could, the feast of dedication would have fallen out a month earlier, which would not have been so much in the winter. Moreover, when Tisri 15th.... fell upon Thursday, Casleu 25th must have fallen on Wednesday; the first day of the feast then was a Wednesday, and consequently so was the last. The particular day on which the conversation in Solomon's porch transpired, must be uncertain; but if we may conjecture that Jesus repaired to the temple in this instance about the same time as the former, viz. ecobons in rns boprns, it might take place on the last day of Casleu, Sunday, December 23rd, or on the first day of Zebeth, Monday, December 24th. If our Lord retired from Jerusalem soon after the attempt on his life, he consequently retired thence before the end of the month of December.'-Greswell, Vol. II. Diss. xxx. pp. 508-.10.

PORCH.-John x. 23, p. 120.

By some it is supposed to have been at the southeast corner of the temple area. Dr. Robinson, Bib. Res. Vol. I. p. 422-..7, says, 'We first noticed these large stones at the south-east corner of the enclosure, where, perhaps, they are as conspicuous, and form as great a portion of the wall, as in any part. Here are several courses, both on the east and south sides, alternating with each other, in which the stones measure from seventeen to nineteen feet in length, by three or four feet in height, while one block at the corner is seven and a half feet thick..... There seems little room for hesitation in referring them back to the days of Solomon, or rather of his successors, who, according to Josephus, built up here immense walls, immoveable for all time.' Dr. Robinson continues, at p. 429, Upon the southern part of the enclosure internally, according to Josephus, "a broad portico ran along the wall, supported by four rows of columns, which divided it into three parts, thus forming a triple colonnade or portico. Of these the two external parts were each thirty feet wide, and the middle one forty-five feet. The height of the two external porticos was more than fifty feet, while that of the middle one was

6 HOW LONG DOST THOU MAKE The question, ch. x. 24, which was put to our Saviour, implies a state of mind wavering between doubt and conviction: it shews an expectation of some Messiah, and a secret belief, mixed up with considerable uncertainty, that Jesus was he. This uncertainty the inquirers would evidently charge upon our Lord himself-ἕως πότε τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν αἴρεις; that is, How long dost thou raise our expectations, and yet keep us in suspense? how long dost thou alternately gratify, and alternately disappoint, our hopes? They complain, therefore, of some difficulty in comprehending the true character of Christ; that he gave them reason, at one time, to think so and so of it, and directly after, just the reverse; and whatever this difficulty might be, producing the ambiguity and suspense of judgment in question, the very request, which they proceed to subjoin, is a proof that, in its cause, it must be ascribed to the words, and not to the actions, of the party addressed.

'If thou art the Christ, tell us so, waßinoía. Haßinoía in its proper sense is freedom of speech; and in its secondary, openness or simplicity of speech. Hence it is opposed to παροιμία, or παραβολή, as speaking |

124]

double, or more than a hundred feet. The length was a stadium, extending from valley to valley. Such was the elevation of the middle portico above the adjacent valley, that if from its roof one attempted to look down into the gulf below, his eyes became dark and dizzy before they could penetrate to the immense depth."-Antiq. xv. 11-5. The valley then meant can well be no other than that of the Kidron, which here actually bends south-west around the corner, so that the eastern end of this high southern portico impended over it. The depth of the valley at this point, as we have seen, is about 150 feet; which, with the elevation of the wall and portico, gives a total height of about 310 feet above the bottom of the valley, an elevation sufficient to excuse the somewhat hyperbolical language of the Jewish historian. The portico along the eastern wall was rebuilt by Agrippa, and is described by Josephus in like manner, as rising above the valley to the enormous height of 400 cubits, or more than 500 feet; which doubtless is merely an exaggerated estimate. Jos. Ant. xx. 9, 7. At the north-east corner, too, the same portico was near the valley of the Kidron, which is said to have here a fearful depth.'-B. I. vi. 3, 2.

US

I say

TO DOUBT?'-John x. 24, p. 121. without disguise, and without reserve, is opposed to speaking in figure, or with a partial concealment of the truth. The request of the Jews, therefore, amounts to this: that if Jesus were the Christ, the Christ which they expected, he would use no mystery nor evasion, he should tell them so at once. the Christ which they expected, for about none else can they be supposed to inquire; and this distinction is not unimportant. To be the true Christ, and to be the Christ which the Jews expected, were very different things; and however plainly our Lord might have declared himself the Christ in the former capacity, the inquirers would still judge of his meaning, from their own notions concerning the Christ, in the latter; between which, and the truth of the fact as regarded the former, there would be the utmost discrepancy.'-Greswell, Vol. II. p. 501.

'It is incontestable that the Jews expected a Messiah who should deliver their country from a foreign yoke, be a triumphant conqueror, and a mighty potentate; and the event proves that they were determined to receive none else. The personal demeanour of our Lord had given them little encouragement to

WHICH IS, AND WHICH WAS, AND WHICH IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.-Rev. i. 8.

HE IS A CHOICE FRIEND WHO CONCEALS MY FAULTS FROM OTHERS, AND DISCOVERS THEM TO MYSELF.

SECTION 57.—(G. 22.)-[Lesson 54, continued.]-JESUS DEPARTS FROM JERUSALEM TO THE QUARTER BEYOND JORDAN, WHERE JOHN AT FIRST WAS BAPTIZING: MANY BELIEVE ON HIM THERE. JOHN X. 40-.2.-[Greswell, Vol. II. Diss. xxx. pp. 510-..3.]

INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS.

No. 57. JOHN X. 40-.2. Line from Jerusalem to the North of Bethshan. 40 And went-away again beyond Jordan* into the place where John at-first baptized; 41 and there he-abode. And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but 42 all-things that John spake of this-man were true. And many believed on him there.

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.

*WENT AWAY AGAIN BEYOND JORDAN,' ETC.-John x. 40, supra. 'The quarter to which he retired is simply de- in the waλ being to ch. vi. 1, § 40, p. 310, where scribed as the region beyond Jordan, the reference a similar visit to the country on the other side of the

THE LORD GIVE THEE UNDERSTANDING IN ALL THINGS.-2 Tim. ii. 7.

THE SWORD OF REPROOF SHOULD BE DRAWN AGAINST THE OFFENCE, AND NOT AGAINST THE OFFENDER.