frequent short explanations of Jewish customs and terms, which serve to show that it was not written so much for Jewish read- ers as for the whole church throughout the world. " Matthew," (says Gregory Nazianzen, quoted by Ford,) " wrote fur the He- brews ; Mark, for the Italians ; Luke, for the Greeks ; the great herald, John, for all."
Lastly. — The preface of this Gospel is one of the most striking peculiarities about the whole book. Under the term preface, I include the first eighteen verses of the first chapter. This pre- face forms the quintessence of the whole book, and is composed of simple, short, condensed propositions. Nowhere in the Bible shall we find such clear and distinct statements about our Lord Jesus Christ's divine nature. Nowhere shall we find so many expressions, which for want of mental power, no mortal man can fully grasp or explain. In no portion of Scripture is it so deeply important to notice each word, and even each tense em- ployed in each sentence. In no portion of Scripture do the per- fect grammatical accuracy and verbal precision of an inspired composition shine out so brightly. It is not, perhaps, too much to say, that not a single word could be altered in the first five verses of St. John's Gospel, without opening the door to some heresy.
The first verse of St. John's Gospel, in particular, has always been allowed to be one of the sublimest verses in the Bible. The ancients used to say that it deserved to be written in golden letters in every Christian Church. It has well been said to be an opening worthy of him whom Jesus called " a son of thunder."
1. — [In the beginning, <!rc.] This wonderful verse contains three things. It tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ, here called the Word, is eternal, — that He is a distinct Person from God the Father, and yet most intimately united to him, — and that He is God. The term " God," be it remembered, in the second clause, is to be taken personally, for God the Father, and in the third to be taken essentially, as signifymg the Divine Being.
The expression, " in the beginning," means in the beginning of all creation. It is like the first verse of Genesi.^, '' In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Gen. i. I.)
The expression "was" means " existed, was existing." The whole sentence signifies that when the world was fist called into bein'r, however long ago that may be, — when matter was first formed, however many millions of ages ago that may be, — at that pcrio;! the Lord Jesus Christ was existing. He had no beginning. He was before aU things. There never was the time when He was not. In shcrt, the Lord Jesus Christ is an eternal Be ng.
Several of the fathers dwell strongly on the immense import- ance of the word "was" in this sentence, and on the fact that it is four times repeated in the two first verses of this Gospel. It is not said, "the Word was made," but "the Word was." Basil says, "Those two terms, 'beginning' and 'was,' are Uke two anchors," which the ship of a man's soul may safely ride at, whatever storms of heresy may come.
The expression, "the Word," is a very difficult one, and is pecuUar to St, John, I see no clear proof that it is used by any other New Testament writer. The texts, Acts xx. 32, and Heb. iv. 12, are, to say the least, doubtful proofs. That it here signi- fies a " person," and not a spoken word, and that it is applied to our Lord Jesus Christ, is clear from the after sentence, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." That it was a term famihar to the Jews is undeniable. But why this particular name is used by St, John, both here and in his other writings, is a point on which commentators have differed greatly.
Some think, as Tertullian, Zwingle, Musculus, Bucer, and Calvin, that Christ is called "the Word " because He is the wis- dom of God, and the " wisdom " of the Book of Proverbs. These would have the expression translated, " reason, wisdom, or counsel,"
Some think, as some of the fathers, that Christ is called " the Word," because He is the image and oflfspring of the Father's mind, " the express image of the Father's person," just as our words, if honest and sincere, are the image and representation of our minds.
Some think, as Cartwright and Tittman, that Christ is called " the Word," because He is the Person who is spoken of in all the Old Testament promises, and the subject of prophecy.
Some think, as Melancthon, RoUock, Gomarus, and Scott, that Christ is called " the Word," because He is the speaker, utterer, and interpreter of God the Father's will. It is written in this very chapter, that " the only begotten Son hath declared the Father." It is also written, that " God hath in these last days spolcen unto us by his Son," (Heb. i. 1,)
I think the last of these views the simplest and most satis- factory. All of them are at best only conjectures. There is probably something about the expression which has not yet been discovered.
It is thought by many that the expression " the Word," is used in several places of the Old Testament, concerning the Second Person in the Trinity. Such places are Psalm xxxiii. 6 ; Psalm cvii. 20, and 2 Sam. vii. 21, compared with 1 Chron. xvii.