PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1
Henry Robert Reynolds [1825-1896] · 515,280 words · 526 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 241
. Ver. 11.-" This beginning of his signs." All that a man does may be regarded as significant of his character and aims in life. How far more obviously and instructively is this the case with the actions of the Son of God! Yet, though whatever Jesus did may be regarded thus, there are certain works of his which the …
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Vers. 14-17.-Tlie vindication of a desecrated temple. High purposes were sub- served by the exercise of the Saviour's authority both at the beginning and at the close of his ministry. If there was in this conduct an evidential meaning for the Jews, there was also a symbolical meaning for all time. I. IN WHAT TIIE HOLI…
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h!R Divine course, such as that of Peter, or that of his onemies, he invariably rebuked it. If nnything could vary his course, it would bo parent,11 and filial affection; hut oven this had to giv~ :way--it was ignored .. His Divine sovereignty shone brilliantly under nil human cond1t1ons; he acted as God m the nnture o…
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0f the sun, h0w muC'h ]('SS that of its C!'l'ator! Christ feed~ faith ns n nurse feeds tho hallo, nno. mni:ifosts his glory, not in full blaz(', but somctimC's in startling Bashes, aud l'Yer in g('nial rays, sons to suit the conditions nnd rcquircmmts of faith. (3) 'l'bo mani- f,-~trrticm (!( his glory will be et•er…
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n most nppropriate text to the symbolic sermon of onr Lord. Genuine religious zeal ns illustmted by the conduct of onr Lorcl here. Notice itr--- 1. IN THE OIIIEF OBJECT OF ITS CON0ERN. It i~ the glory of God and the purity of his house and worship. Under the inflnencc of this zeal: 1. O!!r refotionship to God and his …
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erer use the one avaihtble mean8. It will attack the walls of Jericho with ram's horns, ~0 forth Ri;rninst the giant with a shepherd's sling, and cle:i.r the temple with e. scomgo of small cords. 'l'he intensely earnest man is never idle for want of suitable weapons. 4. It 1·s heroically courageou~. It carries its p…
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than to let the weclding-feast pass over without exercise of the special power of Jesus. What necessity could there be for guests having wine rather than water? Bnt if we speak thus, what necessity was there for any of the miracles of J'esus? They helpe,l just one here and there out of the vast mass of needy ones. Jes1…
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Ver. 25.-Je.ms knowing man. John gives us, in the course of his Gospel, wonderful evidences and illustrations on this point. When people came to him, he seemed to see right iuto their hearts and thrnugh their present lives into all their past. Instances in Nathanael, Nicodemus, and the woman of Samaria. The power of…
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EXPOSITION. supreme Di vine perfections of their MaRtcr OHAPTER ill, (cf. eh, i. 49; iv. 17; vi. 6·1; xi. 1, H; This is tho first of tho eleven discouracs xiii. 11; xxi. 17; o.nrl also I,ev. ii. 2, !), rn, recorded by thi.e evangelist, e.nd for the most etc.). "The man of the Pho.risces" fur- nishes (Gorlet) a test…
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and said unto bhn. To BUpposo, with many Ver. S.-1\lany explanations haw been commentRtors (after Augustine), that the offered of the link of oonnection between the night is here symbolic of the mental con- suggestion of Nicodemus and the reply of dition of the man, is far-fetched. Thoma., Jesus. Many expansions or ad…
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Obrist sets the pra.ctloe.l truth and Divine is very remarkable. A man must be b0rn 110ssibility of any mcm seeing the kingdom anew, must unrlergo a radical change, even of Goel. 'fo the suspicion of Jesus being to see the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. xviii. 3). the Messenger nnd Minister of God, he The true kingdom is no…
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prot the motive or mind of Nioodemus show being probably, not necessarily, nn old mani almost ns much misunderilte.nding of the and belonging to a society of grave, reverend tta£tiet,! 0f his o.mazoment, &e Nicodemus did elders, with the inveterate ho.bite, practices, of the deepest significance of this solemn tradi…
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nrgoncy of these icle,1s thnt, o.e he must have it were at the hands of John. Consequently, known, the Essoues hnd formecl separate com- we cannot believe, with this entire group of munities, with the view of carrying out to the facts before us, that our Lord was makin~ full consummation tho icleo. of ritual purity, an…
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Destitut.e of any higher birth th1tn the birth point of humnu experience, and urged in of flesh. mRn is fleshly, psychiool, eMthly, the form of a direct appeal to conscience. <r<1p,c11,J,. 1/Jvx,,cds, xoi",cJs (Rom. ·\"ii. 14-25), In this disr.omse to Nicodemus tho enme 1',n<l, more' th1m that, positively opposed to ch…
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hnd no ooneciolleneee of persona.I need of clause, Bo is every one that hath been born 1 rogenemiion, nor wus he in the first case of the Spirit-meaning•, So doth it happen to born ne flesh from flesh. His flesh we.s every one who is born of the Spirit-suggests itself the work of the Spirit. the analogy between 1rv,vµa…
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""hither it went. We might not. k"tlow 1,rcsum11bly acquainted with the tenching "how," bnt we should know "when" nnd of the Soriptnroa, need not have been in ",-•henC'C'" the spiritnnl chnnge toc,k pince. such doubt and a1nazement at the searching But thie knowledge is distinctly uegntived words of J esns. bv Chri…
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mntters in whioh the testimony of disciples Ver. 13.-And, The simple copule. is here wo.s not nvnilable. It hne eometimee been full of eignificcmce. Olshe.usen regards it a.a Mid that tho "earthly" 1md "hee.vonly" "e.dverse.tive," eqnivalent to" yet." l\Ieyer, things refer to :tho wind-parable and its as a simplo con…
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th!" "bcnv" 0f Di,·ine grace. No one hath he Ntmo down, n.nd though his introduction asoended into he&ven except he who has to this world was an incarnation, yot that by living th<"re 11e in his eternal home oome he is in tho deepest sense elill in heo.ven, down from heRven. Meyer, Luthardt, Such language is a \'ind…
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had bitten any man, when he bohclrl the heart of God. (3) The comprufaon, however, serpent of brass, ho livod." 'l'ho fiery fly- and relation between type and nntitypP, is ing sorpcnt, with its poisonous bite and its more conspicuons still in the fiftpenth verso, cloaclly malico, was tho vivid typo of the when, Jesu…
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Kirodemus superrene. "Hoto," asks Nioo- s.'\id, in the recorded words of Jesus, though <lemus, "Mn this be?" "Tlnl,/l may it be," H is found in the discourse of tho ovr1Dgellst answers the Son of ml\u. It is not necrssltry thnt Rli the mystery of the cross shouhl himself in eh, 1. 12: ii. 23; and 1 John v. 19, bltv…
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doubt that n oorlflin subjectivo colouring none other than hie only begotten Son ( cf. nJI'octs his con<lonsa.tion of the discourRes of notes, eh. i. 14, 18). Just as Abraham had Josue. Ho wns not a. shorthand reporter, not kept back his only begotten son from God, so God has not withheld hia perfect photograpbicnlly …
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the ,l!flf'ld. This jnilg-n1ent is not the end in the coming of the Christ. He was sent of his mnnif<'stAlion. This stntemont is not to snvo. wit.hnut difiknltv, bC'Muse we 11.>arn from eh. Ver. 18.-Snlvntion is the Divine rosnll v. 27, 2S nncl xh. 48 that there is a groat of believing on him, nnd snlvntion lifts th…
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etolid indifforonoo a.nd de.mne.blo unbelief, brought conseqaen~s from which "men" the onco unbeliever will become tho believer, recoiled and revolted. They loved their own the judgment upon w!Jom is no more a. ignore.nee and peril. They shrank from the judgment of condomno.tion, but 0110 of life deme.uds---from the rc…
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workl me.y not be oonvioted; i.e. lest hie flees from the man of God, he diedo.ine the works shoul<l be revealed---shown to him and revealing Word, he rejects the blessed Christ, to others in thoir true light. The night-time, he loves the darkness, this ia his condemna- during whioh so runny evil things, base tion. On …
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oorrect its prejudices. If 11, Cew expressions, We are expressly told, both here 1mrl in eh. auoh as "the only begotten Bon," "this is iv. 3, that it was in Jndllla, not Samaria, the ooademaa.tion, that," "he that doeth that Jesus there tarried with them, and was the truth," aro found in writings which are baptizing. T…
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the current eynoptio chronology of the com- Beershebn., even M, in the synoptics, we find mencement of the GalilmRn ministry (one him iu Crosarcn. Philippi, the northernmost whioh mnde this imprisonment a note of portion of the Holy L1md. Certn.inly ho me.:, time), ehows that the period described in have tarried the…
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to havo bor·n et.ill tnking n.n independent two s~1ch lcaderR, teaching e.nd proclo.iming 11osition. llo pointed others to Jeans, but the kmgdom of heaven, e.nd be.ptizing into he did not enroll himself o.mong his fol- e. glorions hope, e. Di vine future and o. lowers. John was at lo.et "offended" more spiritual change…
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t.hc mult.ih1,1Ps nttc-stro tho hold thou lutdst (1) Those who ho.ve limited the mentRl on their nffed,inns-to whom thou hast borne reference to John him~elf. "l\ly function is, testimonit>s-tho m1m 'll'ho rec('ived thy as I am about .to explRin, I\ subordinRto one," homR~e, hut who admitted nlso thy ol!tims, '' I h…
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Ver. 20.-And now the Baptist bethinks of intermediary-the confidant or both. He him of o.nolher remarkoble image, with presides 1tt the ceremonies of the betrotb.l which, os e. student of the Old Teetarnont, and at the wedding-feast, o.nd especially in onrl being himself "more than a prophet," ho tbe interests of the b…
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be rntirrlv roalizC'd when, after the rl'sur- representation simply an artistio endcnvour reotion and the PC'l'ond advent, the rapture on the part of a second century falsal'itta to of fellowship "ith his Bride will be com- show that John's disciples were absorbed plekd. But the Baptist recognized that his into the …
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tinuance or spread of John's teBOhing and ie repeated, e.nd it involves little more than b11,ptiem impossible; for (1) the words were whe.t John had implied to the Sanhedrin obviously addressed to e. eme.ll group only of (eh. i. 30-31 ). the me.nr. thoueandewho heard John preach; Ver. 32.-That which he ha.th seen an…
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(,•er. 29) and his grief ("l'er. 32) both formed of his serve.nts to whom in theso do.ye of the R noble contTRst to the jealousy of his own baptism of the Spirit, the lloly Gho.st is disciples" (Meyer). poured forth from an iucxhuustiblo trensurc. Vers. 33-86.-(3) The OOOB"(Jt1enees of Augustine and Ualvin urged tha…
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Ilov. i. 18); and the power of det{lrmining what life is. Life is obviously here and tho flno.l condition of nil souls, suggested in elsew~ere more than physical existence, or vor. :JG. But we mny conceive o, less ex- the.n its continun.nce, or than its resuscita- tended horizon limiting the vision of the tion after de…
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governed the Jewish community in ecclesiastical concerns. 2. He was a Phal'isee. The most popular and influential of the Jewish sects-narrow in its particularism nnd ";tb a zeal springing out of a selfish root. According to his view as a Pharisee, ~very Jew with the authorized ritualistic qualification would enter the …
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ea.ve. (3) BeCBuse, in an o.nalogous pa1sage, "He who believeth and is baptized, she.11 be saved," baptism and faith are not regarded as the sarue thing, There may be baptism without faith, and faith without baptism. (4) BecauRe to underste.nd baptism by "the water" here involves the absurdity of extending the same mea…
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we have eeeo." Man believes, for he must here walk by faith, not by sight; but Jesus i;ces. He has seen beRven, and knows all heavenly realities by immediate intuition. 3. It is truth to be openly <kdared. 11 We speak . . . we test.Hy.;, Jesus aud his disciples are witnesses to the trut.h. 4. Yet ie @as re:fecfA!d by t…
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eye of the eoul looking to o. Saviour. "Look unto me, and be ye eaved" (Isa. xlv. 22). (2) The look implied o. dependence in the divinely appointed remedy. 3. The brazen serpent answtrs to Chri9t the Scm of man. We admit none of the fancies of divines respectin,g this rn11tter, '!'he one point of analogy was in the …
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world to judge the world; but that the world through him might be 811.Vod." 1. JI was for 11,~ sa./vation of the world. (1) There was no longer a merely particulnrislic dispen~ntion, but one that included the whole race of man. (2) It was not a mere design to inclu<le the race within an area of religious privileges.…
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Vera. 23-30.-The relatiM between our Lord and his forernnner. Jesus seems to have followed in the footsteps of John, who was still at large, baptizing disciples in the southern borders of Judma. I. THE CONTROVERSY DETWEEN THE JEWS AND JOHN'S DISCIPLES. The subject of dispute. "About purifying." It was caused by the…
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truth of God, just e.s the unbeliever mabs God a liar (1 John ii. 4). What a gmnd reality is faith! (3) The reason of Christ's words being the very truth of God; for "God giveth not the Spirit by measure." Therefore he iR "full of grace nnd truth," and "iu him itre all the treasures o(. wi8dom and know lodge." 4. Ch…
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nmbition. Dut the kingdoms cf this world, and their glory, have no chann for Chr,Ht. It is in humn.n hearts that he desires and loves to reign. He has undou Lterlly an external empire; but this ho possesses in virtue of his spiritual sway. III. T11E SPinlTUAL KINGDOM JS GOVERNED BY R!GHTF.OUS LAWS, The ordinances of …
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Yer. 8.-Tl,e wind and the Spirit. Things natural are the emblems of things spiritual. It is no accident that in this very verso the same word is used to desicrnate the wind that blows upon the surface of the earth, and the Spirit that breathes ove~ the souls of men. In many languages the breeze or the breath is the …
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Vera. 14, 15.-.An emblem of salvation. It was Christ's teaching that Moses testified of him. 'l'his Moses did by foretelling the advent of a prophet like unto himself, and still more strikingly by the whole system of sacrifice which he perfected, and which the Messiah both fulfilled and superseded. He did so likewis…
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or of the evangelist~ If these are Christ's words, they contain his authoritnlive tc~limony to hill own declaration. If they are the words of John, we have in them the inspired jnd"- ment of one who was in most intimate fellowship with Jesus, aud who was peculiarly competent to ~epresent his M&Ster's work in accorda…
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question for those thus privileged is--Shall they or shall they not believe on the Son of God? I. Oun JUDIOIAL RELATION TO Goo NEOESSARILY INVOLVES ONE OR OTHER OF TW() SENTEN0EB, Because he has devised and provided the gospel, God does not therefore cease to be a Judge, wise, holy, and just. As such he will pronounce…
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Yer. 34.-Unmeasured gifts. If this passage describes the fulness of spiritual gifts and powers bestowed by God upon the Lord Jesus, then there is here implicit or explicit mention of the Three Persons of the 'l'rinity. Impossible though it is for the finite intellect thoroughly to understand the statement, Christian…
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people, and to the race for whom he died; because he "received gifts for men." Himeolf participating in unlimited supply in the graces of the Holy Spirit, he became the glorious agent through whom copious blessings were conferred upon the Church and upon the world. He received, not for himself merely, but for us also. …
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In the exercise of his matchless love in Christ, he was absolutely free and independent, for the world to him is &S the small dust of the balance, and its inhabitants a.s mer« grasshoppers. He would be eternally glorious and happy if tho guilty world wore lefl to it-s horrible fate. Consequently, his love is as pure a…
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If the Bon were sent to condemn and destroy the world, the ends of' justice would be strictly answered; for even the Jewish world was disimproving under the preliminary dispensation of mercy, and loudly called f'or judgment. (3) The world expected anuJ, feared this. The world, being guilty naturally, expected and fe…
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ma.kes its sa1va.tion very hopeyful. "For God sent not," etc. In view of this, In spit a of the world's sin and terrible unbelief, we see infinite possibilities of its salvation. H is now a glorious possibility. Shall it become a practical fact? '!'his is the Divino purpose. Shall it fail? God has answered, it shall…
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strife, he goes up at once into bis native air, the birthplace of his mission, the nursery of good and holy thoughts, and the source of spiritual power and influence. (2) He looks at heaven as the only source of spiritual gifts. " A man can receive nothing," ~to. Y~u may p;et the same ~ind of article_ i1;1- different, …
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with him, especially his friends and forerunners. Jesus is introduced to the soul• but a long time of anxiety often elapses between the introduction and success. Whe~ the success comes, whflt a joy I (3) At the fulfilment of his own mission. When he heard the voice of the Bridegroom he heard the first victorious not…
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ho camo by night. Time we have illUBtration how Jesue does not break the bruise,! reed or quench the smoking flax. If weak ones are to make headway in the path of faith and righteousness, they must not be dealt with hardly in the beginning. III. JESUS HAS THE BAME MESSAGE WHENEVER WE MA.Y COME. Whatever hour Nicodemus…
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Nioodemus mRy get the firet chance or R good position. So the heart of the ml\n must be altogether alt-ered before he can listen sympathetically to the teaching of Jesus.-Y. Ver. 5.-" Born of water and of the Spirit." I. O11sERVE THE TRUE TlllA0HER, This verse is in answer to a question. The first word of Jesus to N…
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tho transactions of hie great work. How mysterious the announcement of the liftinrr up of Jesus would seem when it was first made! But ,Jesus, we may be sure, mad; that nnnounceme~t with n vi?w to nil in future _ages who should read of his lifting up on the cross. Nicodemus might not come agam, so Jesus sends him away …
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EXPOSITION. extreme unlikelihood of such an event CHAPTER IV. having been fabricated with consummate Vena. 1----42.-7. The ministry and reee- art to establish any specific theological con- lation of fAe Inrd to those b"!fond the strict clusion, the natural appropriateness of the compa88 of the theocracy. This pas…
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mnr,el) is akin to many of the mysteries of dinary wave of popular excitement, yet of his life. "Why, it is sometimes e.sked, did nothing answering to the Daptiat's imagi• he not proole,im hie sublimest thoughts in nntion of what ought to ho.ve taken plaoe. J ohn'e ideo.s correaponded more closely than the scl10ols…
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after the early testimoniee of John, when oursi ve, 69); not "the city'' Shechem- J eeus went to Onno and C11pemaum (eh. i. 43). the lv,tJµ of Acts vii. 16, or :Sl1<1µa. of Jose- Whether this journey corrrsponded with that phus (Gen. xxxiii. 18; Josh. xx. 7; Judg. mentioned in Matthew ancl Mnrk, as following ix. 7)-n…
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whioh J'aoob gave to his son J'oaeph. In unto weariness," from ,crl..-os, exhausling toil) Gen. xx.xiii. 19; uxiv. 25; xlviii. 22 with his journey. A long, exhausting maroh (LXX.); Josh. xxiv. 32, we see tha.t Jacob'e told upon him, 1md he felt the weBlmees of treaty with the sons of Hamor, and the our hum&nity. 'l'hom…
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midnight to midda.y, from noon to midnight, Byche.r, which tho women of the place would into twelve hours of equal length. Some frequent. We need not, with Hengstenberg, difiloulties a.re reduced by the la.tl.er hypo- suppose that, from a religious motive, one of thesis (see M•Clellan a.nd Westcott, 'Ad- reverence for …
1,012 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.