PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels — St. John — Volume 1
Ryle, J. C. (John Charles), 1816–1900 · 191,919 words · 370 reading sections
54 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
is the same place, it is worthy of notice that it is specially mentioned as near " waters.'' (Judges vii. 24.) The name of the place ought always to be dear to the hearts of Christians. It is the place where the first disciples of Jesus were made, and the foundation of the Christian church was laid. It was here, " the…
166 wordsSECTION 62JOHN L 29—34.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 33 This is he of whom I said, After me Cometh a man which is preferred before me : for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I com…
237 wordsSECTION 63JOHN, CHAP. I. 55
Let us notice, firstly, in this passage, the peculiar name xjchich John the Baptist gives to Christ. He calls Him *' The Lamb of God." This name did not merely mean, as some have supposed, that (/hrist was meek and gentle as a lamb. This would be truth no doubt, but only a very small portion of tho truth. There are gr…
353 wordsSECTION 6456 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
Let us notice, secondly, in this passage, the peculiar work which John the Baptist describes Christ as doing. He says that " he taketh away the sin of the world." Christ is a Saviour. He did not come on earth to be a conqueror, or a philosopher, or a mere teacher of morality. He came to save sinners. He came to do tha…
721 wordsSECTION 6568 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS. •
Let us ask ourselves, as we leave this passage, "Whether we are baptized with the Holy Ghost, and whether we have any real interest in the Lamb of God? Thousands, unhappily, are wasting their time in controversy about water baptism, and neglecting the baptism of the heart Thousands more are content with a head-knowledg…
855 wordsSECTION 6660 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
[The sin.] Let it be noted that the singular number is used here. It is '' the sin," not " the sins." The expression seems to me purposely intended to show that what Christ took away, and bore on the cross, was not the sin of certain people only, but the whole accumulated mass of all the sins of all the children of Ada…
530 wordsSECTION 67JOHN, CHAP. I. 61
be found at last to have received no benefit from Christ, and to have died in their sin?. I repudiate the idea of universal salva- tion, as a dangerous heresy, and utterly contrary to Scripture. — But ihe lost will not prove to be lost because Christ did nothing for them. He bore their sins. He carried their transgress…
511 wordsSECTION 6862 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
receive the benefit of Christ's passion, because all do not believ<! on Christ, yet that benefit is so offered to the whole woild, that whosoever, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, king or peas- ant, high or low, rich or poor, sick or well, old or youn^-, receive- Christ by faith, is justified before God, and saved…
470 wordsSECTION 69JOHN, CHAP. I. 68
by sight until the day when He came to be baptized." The difficulty connected with these words of John will be considered fwlly at the 33d verse. [That he should he made manifest to Israd^ t&c] John here declares that the great end of his ministry was, that this wonder- ful Person, whom he had just pointed out, should…
460 wordsSECTION 7064 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
abating of the water, so doth it now of the abating of the wrath of God, upon the preaching of the Gospel." We must beware of supposing for a moment, that this vision of the Spirit descending was meant to imply, that our Lord first received the grace of the Holy Ghost at that particular time, or that He had not receiv…
954 wordsSECTION 7166 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
description of our Lord, here given by John the Baptist, has received three very different interpretations. Some think that it means, " Tliis is He who shall institute Christian baptism, with which the gift of tl^e Holy Ghost shall be connected. His baptism shall be like mine, a baptism of water. But it shall not be a…
476 wordsSECTION 72JOH^^ CHAP. I.
67 Ruch modern and contemptible notions as some persons are pleased to think. The untenableness of the view, held by many, that John's baptism was not the same as Christian bap' ism, to all intents and purposes, is ably shown by Lin^htfoot, in his Harmony of the Four Evangelists. If it was not Christian baptism, it w…
266 wordsSECTION 73JOHN L 35—42.
35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disci- ples; 36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of Gk)dl 3*7 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and salth unto them. What seek ye? They said unto him. Rabbi…
175 wordsSECTION 7468 ■ EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
These verses ought always to be interesting to every true Christian. They describe the first beginnings of the Christian Church. Yast as that church is now, there was a time when it consisted of only two weak raenibers. The calling of those two members is described in the passage which is now before our eyes. We see, …
693 wordsSECTION 7570 EXPOSITORS THOUGHTS.
And to Andrew's out-spoken testimony, under God, the great apostle Peter owed the first beginning of light in his soul. The fact before us is most striking and instructive. Out of the three first members of the Chnstian Church, one at least was brought to Jesus, by the private, quiet word of a relative. He seems to ha…
354 wordsSECTION 76JOHN, CHAP. I. 71
Let us take heed that we are among those who really follow Christ, and abide with Him. It is not enough to hear Him preached from the pulpit, and to read of Him as described in books. We must actually follow Him, pour out our hearts before Him, and hold personal communion with Him. Then, and not till then, we shall fee…
407 wordsSECTION 7772 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
Eollock on this verse remarks, '' We learn by this example, how powerful is the preaching of Christ, — yea, one or two words about Christ and the cross, how powerful are they in changing the hearts of men ! Preach, if you like, about the great deeds of kings and generals, and their courage and dory ; — these things wil…
932 wordsSECTION 787-1 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
had held mth Jesus, had convinced him that He was indeed the Christ. [Ihe Messias... .interpreted.... Christ.] It is almost needless to remark, that these names mean the " anointed one." The first is Hebrew, and the second is Greek. Kings, prophets, and priests, in the Old Testament, were anointed, and our Lord as the…
455 wordsSECTION 79JOHN, CHAP. 1. 75
common in !N'ew Testament times. The apostle Petei seems to have been only known as " Cephas" in the Corinthian Church. Out of the five other places in the New Testament where the name Cephas is found, four are in the epistle to the Corinthians, while the name Peter is not used in that epistle at all. Nifanius gives t…
393 wordsSECTION 80JOHN 1. 43—51.
43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaldn, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him. We have found 76…
43 wordsSECTION 81EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
him, of whocr Moses in the Law, and the PropI.ets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Phihp eaith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israehte indeed, in whom is no guile …
421 wordsSECTION 82JOHN, CHAP. I. 77
A careful recollection of this point may save us much trouble. We must beware of making the experience of other believers the measure of our own. We must beware of denying another's grace, because he has not been led by the same way as ourselves. Has a man got the real grace of God ? This is the only question that conc…
352 wordsSECTION 8378 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
But the coming Person tliey all saw afar oft*, and on whom they all fixed their eyes, was one and the same. The Spirit, which was in them, testified of Christ. (1 Pet. i. 11.) Do we stumble at this saying ? Do we find it hard to see Christ in the Old Testament, because we do not see His name ? Let us be sure that the…
341 wordsSECTION 84JOHN, CHAP. I. 79
%vit]i ^f»thaiiael. Let us invite tbem boldly to make proof of otr religion. Let us tell them confidently that they cannot know its real value until they have tried it. Let us assure them that vital Christianity courts every possible inquiry. It has no secrets. It has nothing to conceal. Its faith and practice are spok…
336 wordsSECTION 8580 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
peculiar commendation! He declared ISTatlianael to be a true son of Abraham, — a Jew inwardly, possessing circumcision in the spirit as well as in the letter, — an Israelite in heart, as well as a son of Jacob iu the flesh. Let us pray that we may be of the same spirit as Kathanael. An honest, unprejudiced mind, — a c…
377 wordsSECTION 86JOHN, CHAP. I. 81
able to call any one whom He pleases into the kingdom of heaven, without the ministry either of angel or man." 44. — [Philip... of Bethsaida city Andrew Peter ^ This verse seems to make it probable that Piiihp's conversion and calling took place at Bethsaida. Andrew and Peter having been con- verted and become compan…
448 wordsSECTION 8782 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
remember anj prophecy about Messiah coming out of jSTazareth. and at once stumbled at the idea of Him whom "Moses and the prophets" had desoribed, belonging to such a contemptible place. The condescension of our Lord in living thirty years in such a place as Nazareth, is strongly brought out by Nathan ael's question. …
428 wordsSECTION 88JOHN, CHAP. I. 83
ftad been good for us to know, it would have been told us. Sufficient for us to understand that when Nathanael thought he was alone and no eye upon him, the Lord Jesus, by His divine power of seeing and knowing all things, was perfectly acquainted with all that Nathanael said, thought, and did. His " eyes are in every …
453 wordsSECTION 8984 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
The angc4 Gabriel foretold that, the " Lord God would give unto Him the throne of His father David, and that He would lei n over the house of Jacob, and that of His kingdom there would be no end." (Luke i. 32, 33.) When the wise men came from the East, they inquired for him who was born " Kinir of th Jews." (Matt. ii. …
950 wordsSECTION 9086 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
ever hereafter," and does not imply a distant event. In reply, I would have it specially noted, that the Greek word here trans- lated " hereafter," is the very same that is used b}^ our Lord in the solemn words, just quoted, which he addressed to the chief priests when He was arraigned. (Matt. xxvi. 69.) In that case, …
463 wordsSECTION 91JOHN, CHAP. II.
87 The most probable opinion to my own mind is, that Nathanae! was the apostle who is called elsewhere Bartholomew, and who, hke others of the apostles, had two names. In favour of this opinion there are three remarkable facts. The first is, that in three lists of the twelve apostles out of four, the names of Philip a…
305 wordsSECTION 92JOHN IL 1.— 11.
1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus was there : 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, what have I to do with thee ? mine hou…
142 wordsSECTION 93EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
ernor of the feast. And they bare it. 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 the water knew ;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and whe…
695 wordsSECTION 9490 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
innocent mirth, are gifts of inestimable value. They go far to soften prejudices, to take up stumbling-blocks out of the way, and to make way for Christ and the Gospel. The subject no doubt is a difficult and delicate one. On no point of Christian practice is it so hard to hit the mean between that which is lawful and…
364 wordsSECTION 95JOHN, CHAP. II. 91
there is surely something that Christians can do on similar occasions. Let them only remember that if they go where their Master went, they must go in their Master's spirit. We learn lastly, from these verses, the Ahnighty poioer of our Lord Jesus Christ. "We are told of a miracle which He wrought at the marriage feas…
356 wordsSECTION 9692 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
by whom this miracle was wrought. A greater marriage feast than that of Cana will one day be held, when Christ Himself will be the bridegroom and believers will be the bride. A greater glory will one day be manifested, when Jesus shall take to Himself His great power and reign. Blessed will they be in that day who are …
420 wordsSECTION 97JOHN, CHAP. II. 93
Lighlfool points out that a comparison of Mark iii. 18, Mark vi. 3, and John xix. 25, makes it exceedingly probable that the Virgin Mary's sister, called elsewhere Mary, the wife of Clcophas or Alfheus, and all her family, lived at Cana. He observes, that in the list of our Lord's " brethren " or cousins we find the fo…
471 wordsSECTION 9894 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
The suggestion of some modern writers, that our Lord's pre- sence at a marriage feast condemns those Christians who decline to go to such amusements as balls, and routs, and dancing-parties, has no weight in it at all. The objects for which people meet together at a marriage feast and at a ball are widely different. Th…
468 wordsSECTION 99JOHN, CHAP. II. 95
spoken before by the angel Gabriel concerning Him. — "We cannot doubt, that altho jgh our Lord had lived a quiet li'e at Nazareth for thirty \ ears, and done no miracles, His motlier must have observed in Him a per''ection of word and deed utterly unlike the behaviour of common men. — We cannot doubt that she was aware…
485 wordsSECTION 10096 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
to John's care. He said, " Woman, behold thy son." (John xix. 26.) The Yirgm Mary was an erring woman, hke all other believing women, but we must not lay more blame on her than Scripture warrants. On the other side, it is useless to deny that our Lord's words were intended, as Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius sa…
986 wordsSECTION 10198 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
7. — [J£sus saith....fll the water-pots, dc] The remark is frequently made Dy commentators on this verse, \vith much propriety, that these simple words describe the duty of all who woik for Christ, and especially of ministers and teachers. They aie to hear Christ's voice, and do as He tells them, and then leave the res…
950 wordsSECTION 102100 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
concile the passage before us with the leading principles of whs* is commonly called " Teetotalism," If our Lord Jesus Christ actually worked a miracle in order to supply wine at a marriage feast, ic seems to me impossible, by any ingenuity, to prove that drinking wine is sinful. Temperance in all things is one of the …
493 wordsSECTION 103JOHN, CHAP. II. 101
thanael now believed on Jesus for the first time. The probable meaning is, that from this time forth they believed more confi- dently, more implicitly, and more unhesitatingly. From this time they felt thorougly convinced, in spite of much remaining igno- rance, that He whom they were following was the Messiah. I cann…
490 wordsSECTION 104EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
deny. Tnat all were intended to convey deep spiritual lessons, beside supplying proofs of His divinity, I make no question. All I maintain is that they require reverent and delicate Landling, and that to rush hastily into allegorical interpretations of them, and invest every minute portion of them with a figurative mea…
442 wordsSECTION 105JOHN, CHAP. II. 103
ot things yet to come. To attend a marriage feast, and cleanse the temple from profanation were among the first acts of our Lord's ministry at His first coming. To purify the whole visible Church, an4 hold a marriage supper, will be amongst His first acts, when He comes again. We see, for one thing, in this passage, l…
346 wordsSECTION 106104 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
These are serious questions ! Multitudes, it may be feared, could not give them a satisfactory answer. Christian churclies and chapels, no doubt, are very unlike the Jew- ish temjile. They are not built after a divine pattern. They have no altars or holy places. Their furniture has no typical meaning. But they are plac…
346 wordsSECTION 107JOHN", CHAP. II. 105
kind of thing tliat happened to the disciples is often going on at the present day. The sermons that are preached to apparently heedless ears in churches, are not all lost and thrc Tvn away. The instruction that is given in schools and pastoral visits, is not all wasted and forgotten. The texts that are taught by paren…
354 wordsSECTION 108106 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
wondered that their Master did not receive these seeming believers with open arms. But they could only judge things by the outward appearance. Their Master could read hearts. " He knew what was in man." The truth now before us, is one which ought to make hypocrites and false professors tremble. They may de- ceive men,…
336 wordsSECTION 109JOHN-, CHAP. II. 107
Notes. John II. 12 — 25. J2. — [Re went down to Capernaum.] The strict accuracy of John'a writing is note-worthy here. Cana was a village in the hill country. Capernaum was a town on the shore of the lake of Galilee, at a very much lower level than Cana. It is therefore said that Jesus " went downy Capernaum appears …
478 wordsSECTION 110108 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
in the verse before us means " cousins," some of whom believed on our Lord, though others did not. (John vii. 5.) Tj is an interesting fact, that two at least of our Lord's apostlea were His kinsmen according to the flesh, viz., James and Jude, the sons of Alpheus. To them w^e may probably add Simon, on the strength o…
463 wordsSECTION 111JOHN, CHAP. II. 109
salem, are only related by St. John. For some wise reason the other three G-ospel writers were inspired to leave out this part of our Lord's history. H. — [Found in the temple those that sold, <&c.] The presence of oxen, sheep, doves, and money-changers, within the temple courts, is easily accounted for. The animals w…
467 wordsSECTION 112110 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
at the beginning of His ministry and once at the end. — -It ia fair to say that Bishop Pearce and a few other writers think that it only happened once, — at the end of His ministry, just before His crucifixion. Bat the arguments in favor of this view do not appear to me at all weighty or satisfactory. 15. — [Made a sc…
988 wordsSECTION 113112 EXPOSITOKY IHOUGHTS.
another thing, as a nation familiar with the history of the Old Testament Prophets, they ^vould not be surprised at an indi- vidual apparently under a divine impulse suddenly doing what our Lord did. — Above all there can be little doubt that a divine influence was brought to bear on all present, as it was when out Lor…
492 wordsSECTION 114JOHN, CHAP. IT. 113
object in. Avhich God's glory is concerned. Mose?, Phineas, and Paul at Athens, are examples of such zeal. (Exodus xxxii. 19 ; Numbers xxv. 11 ; Acts xvii. 16.) Augustine remarks on this text, " Let the zeal of the house of God ever eat thee. — For example : Seest thou a brother running to the theatre ? stop him, warn…
488 wordsSECTION 115114 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
[In three days I will raise it up.] This is a prophecy of our Lord's resurrection. Bat it is a very remarkable one, from the fact that our Lord distinctly asserts His own power to raise Himself up. It is like the expression, '' I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again." (John x. 18.) Both the…
547 wordsSECTION 116JOHN, CHAP. II. 115
the apostles began to preach, they continnally referred the Jewa to Christ's resurrection as the proof of His Messiahship. And why did they do so? One main reason was, because their Mas- ter had told the Jew?, the first time He appeared in the temple, that the great sign they must look to was His own rising again from …
486 wordsSECTION 117116 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
pel as he goes on, in order to make things clear to his Gontile readers. Let it be noted, that as our Lord calls His own body a "tem- ple," so also the bodies of His believing people are called " the temple of the Holy Ghost." (1 Cor. vi. 19.) If it was wrong to defile and profane the temple made of stone and wood, ho…
470 wordsSECTION 118JOHN, CHAP. II. 117
[ When they saiu the miracles.'] This expression shows us that there were many miracles worked by our Lord which are no- where recorded in Scripture. St. John himself tells us so twice over. (John xx. 30; xxi. 25.) Nicodemus refers to these miracles in the beginning- of the following chapter. (John iii, 2.) If it had b…
464 wordsSECTION 119EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
" afford an instance of the peculiar manner in whi(3li the Holy Spirit, in St. John's Gospel, pronounces jud,2:ment on things and persons, xiii. 11 ; Compare vi. xxi. 17." 64, 71; vii. 39; viii. 27; xii. 33, 37; In leaving the whole passage, I cannot help remarking what a faithful picture of human nature it exhibit…
136 wordsSECTION 120JOHN III. 1—8.
1 There was a man of the Phari- sees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews : 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him. Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from G-od: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except Grod be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said un- to him, Yerily, verily, I s…
282 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1857). Text from OCR of an original Internet Archive scan; OCR may contain recognition errors.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.