PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels — St. John — Volume 3
Ryle, J. C. (John Charles), 1816–1900 · 220,804 words · 484 reading sections
316 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
thought good to reveal to us. There is a depth about it, we must all instinctively feel, which man has proba- bly no line to fathom. Yet there is perhaps no irrever- ence in conjecturing the thoughts that were in our Lord's mind, when the word was spoken. The finishing of all the known and unknown sufferings which He c…
346 wordsSECTION 302JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 317
"We should mark, lastly, iji these verses, the reality and truth of Chrisfs death. We are told that " one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forth- with came there out blood and water." This incident, small as it may seem at first sight, supplies probable proof that the heart of our blessed Lord was pie…
328 wordsSECTION 303318 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
to drag in these two blessed Sacraments on every occa- sion, and to insist on thrusting them forward, as the hidden sense of every disputed text where the number " two " is mentioned. Such pertinacious application of hard places in Scripture to Baptism and the Lord's Supper does no real good, and brings no real honor t…
320 wordsSECTION 304JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 319
Notes. John xix. 38—37. 28. — [After tMs.] When our Lord had commended His mother, Marj, to John, I believe that the miraculous darkness for three hours came on. During those three hours I believe our Lord said nothing, except " My God, my Uod, why hast Thou forsak- en Me ? " As the darkness was passing away, He said,…
484 wordsSECTION 305320 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
Remembering all this, I believe tbat the sense of the verse before us must be paraphrased in the following way : " After this, Jesus knowing in His own mind that all things were now practically accomplished, which he came into the world to do, and knowing that it wa:S expedient that His death should be a most public ev…
463 wordsSECTION 306JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 321
The connection of the sentence, " that the Scripture might be fulfilled," is not very clear to my mind. Is it to be taken with the words that follow in the verse, or with those that immedi- ately precede it ? — The common view taken, undoubtedly, is to connect the sentence with " I thirst." The sense will then be " Jes…
531 wordsSECTION 307322 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
three or four feet long. Hengstenberg gives evidence from Talmudic writers that the hyssop was among the branches used at the feast of tabernacles, and that its stalk was an ell long. Like many other questions of Bible natural history, the point must probably be left obscure. Some see deep meaning in the mention of hys…
524 wordsSECTION 308JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 323
finished. He had, as Daniel foretold, " finished transgression, made an end of sin, made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness." (Dan, ix. 24.) After thirty-three years, since the day when He was born in Bethlehem, He had done all, paid all, performed all, suflPered all that was needful …
491 wordsSECTION 309324 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
To the objection of some persons, that all things were not completely finished and accomplished, until Jesus rose again and ascended into heaven, Calvin replies that Jesus knew that all things were now practically accomplished, and that noth- ing now remained to hinder His finishing the work He came to do. {^And He bo…
497 wordsSECTION 310JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 325
Above all, let us never forget, as we read of Christ's death, that He died for our sins, as our Substitute. His death is our life. He died that we might live. We who believe on Christ shall live forevermore, sinners as we are, because Christ died for us, the innocent for the guilty. Sataji cannot drag us away to everla…
551 wordsSECTION 311326 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
tlie subject will be found in tbe appendix to " Hanna's Last Days of our Lord's Passion." Concerning the deep question as to wbat became of our Lord's soul wken He gave up the ghost, it must suffice to be- lieve that His soul went to paradise, the place of the departed spirits of believers. He said to the penitent thi…
482 wordsSECTION 312JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 327
■would not have been done if the Jews had not asked. — The verse supplies a wonderful example of the way in which God can make the wickedest men unconsciously carry out His pur- poses, and promote His glory. If the Jews had not interfered this Friday afternoon, for anything we can see, Pilate would have allowed our Lor…
556 wordsSECTION 313328 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
(a) Possibly two of the soldiers broke the legs of one male- factor, and the other two the legs of the other. Reason and common sense point out that it does not require four men to do this horrid work on a helpless, unresisting, crucified person. Thus, having finished their work at the two outward crosses, they would c…
493 wordsSECTION 314JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 329
that He was dead already," and therefore did not break His legs. Our salvation hinges so entirely on Jesus Christ's vicari- ous death, that a moment's reflection will show us the divine wisdom of the fact being thoroughly proved. His unbelieving enemies could never say that He did not really die, and that He was only i…
500 wordsSECTION 315330 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
something closely resembling" it, would immediately flow out. They maintain, therefore, that there was nothing supernatural in the circumstance recorded. (6) Others, as most of the Fathers, Brentius, Musculus, Calo- vius, Lampe, Lightfoot, Rollock, Jansenius, Bengel, Horsley, and Hengstenberg, hold that this issue of …
503 wordsSECTION 316JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 331
ments at every point in the exposition of God's Word, as some do. (6) My own opinion is most decided, that the flow of blood and water, whether supernatural or not, was meant to be a sym- bolical fulfilment of the famous prophecy in Zechariah : " In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and t…
484 wordsSECTION 317332 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
eyes ; and my testimony is true, and accurate, and trustworthy, and I know that I say true things in recording the fact, so that you to whom I write need not hesitate to believe me. 1 stood by. I saw it. I was an eye-witness, and I do not write by hear-say." The Greek word rendered " true " in the second place in this…
537 wordsSECTION 318JOHN, CHAP. XIX.
333 was fulfilled, that the inhabitants of Jerusalem *' should look on him whom they pierced." (Zech. xii. 10.) Alford observes that the expression, " they shall look," does not refer to the Roman soldiers, but to the repentant in the world, who at the time this Gospel was written had begun to fulfil this prophecy ; …
301 wordsSECTION 319JOHN XIX. 38—42.
38 And after this Joseph of Ari- mathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, be- sought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus : and Pilate gave Mm leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also Nicode- mus, Avhichatthe lirst came to Jesus by night, an…
165 wordsSECTION 320334 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
of whom we never heard before. They bring in an old friend, whose name is known wherever the Bible is read. They describe the most important funeral that ever took place in this world. From each of these three points of interest we may learn a very profitable lesson. We learn, for one thing, from these verses, that th…
349 wordsSECTION 321JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 335
some laborious calling, render it impossible for them to come forward in public ; and so they live and die comparatively unknown. Yet the last day may show an astonished world that some of these very people, like Joseph, honored Christ as much as any on earth, and that their names were written in heaven. After all, it …
334 wordsSECTION 322330 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
not condemn otljera as graceless and godless, because they do not see the whole truth at once, and only reach decided Christianity by slow degrees. The Holy Ghost always leads believers to the same foundation truths, and into the same highway to heaven. In these there is invariable uniformity. But the Holy Ghost does n…
344 wordsSECTION 323JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 337
it also teaches that, when the body of a Christian is dead, there is a fitness and meetness in burying it with decent honor. It is not for nothing that the burials of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses are carefully recorded in holy writ. It is not for noth- ing that we are told that John the Baptist …
362 wordsSECTION 324338 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
will not be how we are buried, but whether we were " buried with Christ," and repented and believed. (Rom. vi. 4.) Better a thousand times to die the death of the righteous, have a lowly grave and a pauper's funeral, than to die graceless, and lie under a marble tomb ! Notes. John xix. 38—43. 38. — [And after tJiis J…
461 wordsSECTION 325JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 339
yet liad not courage to confess Him before His crucifixion. We are distinctly told in John xii. 42, that " many of the chief rulers believed, but did not confess Christ, because of the Phar- isees." But the character given of them, that " they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God," is so condemnatory, th…
529 wordsSECTION 326340 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
"V^Tiy Joseph's " fear " departed, and he acted with such mar- vellous boldness now, is a question which we have no means of settling. But reason points out that in all probability he had been an eye-witness of much that had happened this event- ful day. He had possibly stood within a short distance of the cross, and s…
542 wordsSECTION 327JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 341
not forget tliat it made him a marked man, as a friend of Christ, and utterly ruined his character with Caiaphas and the high priests. [He came therefore...took...hody...Jesus.'] The word rendered " took " here, is the same that is rendered " took away " j ust above. — Some think, as Tholuck and Ellicott, that the Rom…
512 wordsSECTION 32834:2 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
The verse before us seems to show that Nicodemus came for- ward as a volunteer, and helped to bury our Lord, and did not Bhrink to take part with Joseph in his good work. I can hard- ly think that he went with Joseph to Pilate. There is not a word to show this in any of the four Gospels. Some think that by agreement N…
521 wordsSECTION 329JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 343
Quesnel observes, "Wonderful is the power of Christ's death, which gives courage to confess Him in His deepest hu- miliation, to those who, when He was doing miracles, came to Him only in secret." Henry observes that Joseph and Nicodemus showed weak faith, but strong love. " A firm faith in Christ's resurrection would…
488 wordsSECTION 330344 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
our Lord's body miglit possibly " see corruption" in some degree before His resurrection. At the same time the special mention of Joseph being " a rich man," and Nicodemus " a ruler " help- ing him, completely stops the mouths of those who would have said that the followers of our Lord could never have found means to p…
499 wordsSECTION 331.JOHN, CHAP. XIX. 345
limestone rock. This made it clearly impossible for any one to gay, that the disciples made a subterraneous entrance into the tomb by night and stole the body away. By the entrance that it was carried into the sepulchre, by the same it must be car- ried out. — (6) Our Lord's tomb was a new one, in which no one had ever…
574 wordsSECTION 332EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
manner of a man, to allow his holy body to hang naked on a cross, to suffer it to be lifted, handled, carried like a lump of cold clay, and shut up in a dark, silent, solitary tomb, — this was indeed love tliaf, passeth knowledge. What true believer need fear the grave now ? Solemn as is the thought of our last nar- ro…
248 wordsSECTION 333JOHN XX. 1—10.
1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and eeeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and Baith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulclire, and…
237 wordsSECTION 334JOHN, CHAP. XX.
347 with peculiar fulness and particularity. And we need not wonder. The whole of saving Christianity hinges on the two facts, that Christ died for our sins, and rose again for our justification. The chapter before our eyes deserves special attention. Of all the four evangelists, none supplies such deeply interesting …
327 wordsSECTION 335348 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
The case "before us throws broad and clear light on a question, which ought to be deeply interesting to every true-hearted servant of Christ. How is it that many who profess and call themselves Christians, do so little for the Saviour whose name they bear ? How is it that many, whose faith and grace it would be unchari…
352 wordsSECTION 336JOHN, CHAP. XX. 34.9
they both ran to the sepulchre ; but John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, outran Peter, and reached the empty grave first. Then comes out the difierence between the two men. John, of the two more gentle, quiet, tender, reserved, retiring, deep-feeling, stooped down and looked in, but went no further. Peter, more hot, a…
344 wordsSECTION 337350 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
This is a point which is brought out here with singu- lar force and distinctness. John himself, the writer of this Gospel, records of himself and his companion Pe- ter, " As yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead." How truly wonderful this seems ! For three long years these two leading A…
332 wordsSECTION 338JOHN, CHAP. XX. 351
Notes. John xx. 1 — 10. The two last chapters of St. John's Gospel are taken up with accounts of oar Lord's appearances after His resurrection. Like Matthew, Mark, and Luke, St. John dwells very fully on the history of the crucifixion and resurrection. But, as in other parts of his Gospel, so here also, he supplies ma…
508 wordsSECTION 339352 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
ent witnesses. He was seen first bv one woman alone, tlien by several women together, then by one man, then by two men, and each time in the open air. Then He was seen by ten dis- ciples in the evening iu a room, then by eleven disciples again in a room, and afterwards on five different occasions, at one of which no le…
540 wordsSECTION 340JOHN, CHAP. XX. 353
(10) to James only (1 Cor, xv. 7) ; (11) to all the Apostles, and probably some others, on Mount Olivet, at His ascension. Most of these eleven appearances require little or no expla- nation. The ninth and tenth in the list are only recorded by St. Paul ; and some think that the appearance to five hundred at once, is …
531 wordsSECTION 341354: EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
(6) I believe tliat, as soon as Peter and John went away, Mary Magdalene saw the two angels, and immediately after saw our Lord Himself, and was told to carry a message to His brethren. (John XX 17.) (7) I believe that in the meantime the other women had gone in two or three directions, to tell the other disciples who…
485 wordsSECTION 342JOHN, CHAP. XX. 355
seal on tlie stone wliicli lay at its mouth. The very men who made a boast of the law, through breaking of the law dishon- ored God, and disgraced themselves. The very followers of Him whom they had slain, kept the law more strictly than they did. [Cometh Mary Magdalene... early. ..dark...sepulchre^ St. John names non…
525 wordsSECTION 343356 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
Let us note how St. John takes it for granted that his readers were acquainted with the other three Gospels, and knew that " a stone " had been rolled to the door of the sepulchre. He here speaks of " the stone." Yet he has said nothing about it before. There seems strong internal evidence that Mary, and the other wom…
529 wordsSECTION 344JOHN, CHAP. XX. 357
motlier of our Lord was. Can we doubt tliat Mary Magdalene would think of her as one among the first to be told about the stone being rolled away ? It is moreover highly probable, though a matter of conjecture only, tbat Peter and John were staying at some house very near the sepulchre. It is most likely that the other…
515 wordsSECTION 345358 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
reason on her side. Who would have taken the trouble of roll- ing away the stone, but one who wanted to take away the body ? If the stone was rolled away, she justly concluded the body was gone. One thing, at any rate, will be observed by every one who carefully compares St. John's narrative with that of the other thr…
517 wordsSECTION 346JOHN, CHAP. XX. 359
make sure that the Lord's body was gone. We need not doubt that they would at once ask Mary, " How do you know the body is gone ? " and would receive the answer, " Because the stone is rolled away." But finding then, that Mary had not actually been inside the sepulchre, and seen it empty, they judged it best to go and …
1,031 wordsSECTION 347JOHN, CHAP. XX. 3(51
cave into the inside of the sepulchre. Then he saw, as John had seen, that the body of our Lord was not there, and that the linen clothes in which the body had been wrapped were lying there, and had been removed in some way from the body. How much linen was used by Joseph and Nicodemus we can- not tell. But when we con…
547 wordsSECTION 348362 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
would not liave been so foolish as to spend so mucli time on a superfluous matter. Why should he undo the cloths ? How could he have escaped detection if he had done so ? He would probably have spent much time in doing it, and been found out by delaying. But why did the clothes lie apart while the napkin was wrapped to…
514 wordsSECTION 349JOHN, CHAP. XX. 363
Augustine suggests that one reason why the disciples did not understand our Lord's prediction of His own resurrection, was His custom of using parables in His teacliing. "Being accustomed to be spoken to in parables by Him, they supposed Him to be signifying some other thing," But the worthy Fa- ther rather seems to fo…
522 wordsSECTION 350364 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
blood and Christ's death, but seem to know nothing of Christ's resurrection, and hardly give it a place in their religion, except as a fact. It is very noteworthy, that while Peter and John and their companions seem to have overlooked and forgotten our Lord's predictions that He would rise again the third day, there w…
509 wordsSECTION 3513G5
Cyril suggests, with some probability, that one reason why Peter and John went away from the tomb so soon, was fear of the Jews. They might well expect that the anger of Caiaphas and his companions on finding the sepulchre was empty, and the body of Jesus gone, would be very great, and they would naturally turn their w…
129 wordsSECTION 352JOHN XX. 11—18.
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down and looked iuto the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two angels in white Bitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou ? She saith unto thein, Be…
668 wordsSECTION 353JOHN, CHAP. XX. 3(57
We see, secondly, in these verses, that the fears and sorrows of believers are often quite needless. We are told that Mary stood at the sepulchre weeping, and wept as if nothing could comfort her. She wept when the angels spoke to her : " Woman," they said, " why weepest thou ? " — She was weeping still when our Lord s…
342 wordsSECTION 354368 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
whieh made her weep, was a token for good, and a cause of joy for herself and all mankind. We see, thirdly, in these verses, what low and earthly thoughts of Christ may creep into the mind of a true be- liever. It seems impossible to gather any other lesson from the solemn words which our Lord addressed to Mary Magdal…
351 wordsSECTION 355JOHN, CHAP. XX. 369
mere earthly friend, but one who is " God over all, blessed forever," as well as man. The pertinacity with which Romanists and their allies cling to the doctrine of Christ's real corporal presence in the Lord's Supper, is only another exhibition of Mary's feeling when she wanted Christ's body, or no Christ at all. Let …
342 wordsSECTION 356370 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
tion that Jesus Christ never changes. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. As He dealt with His erring disciples in the morning of His resurrection, so will He deal with all who believe and love Him, until He comes again. When we wander out of the way He will bring us back. When we fall He will raise us again…
453 wordsSECTION 357JOHN, CHAP. XX. 371
Epiphanius an ancient writer (a. d. 390), according to Hein- eius, maintains the monstrous theory that the Mary here spo- ken of is the mother of our Lord, and not Mary Magdalene I It is well to know that the ancient Fathers were not always wise, and are certainly not infallible in expounding Scripture. Tholuck thinks…
505 wordsSECTION 358372 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
looked in, after Peter and John went away, she saw two angels and talked with them. These are very deep things. They prove plainly that the angels of God appear and disappear, are visible or invisible, instantaneously and supernaturally, accord- ing as God commissions them. In short they are beings of a totally differe…
501 wordsSECTION 359JOHN, CHAP. XX. 373
consent. If one angel could slay 180,000 of Sennacherib's X army, what could two do ? Andrews observes, " We learn tliat between the angels there was no striving for places. He that sat at the feet was as well content with his place, as he that sat at the head. We should learn from their example. With us both angels w…
501 wordsSECTION 360374: EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
"wliich was not, and Him to be dead whicli was alive. She weeps, because she finds the grave empty, which, God forbid she should have found full, for then Christ must have been dead Btill, and there would be no resurrection. And this case of Mary Magdalene is our case oftentimes. It is the error of our conceit to weep …
533 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.