The whole sentence is peculiar, and requires careful interpieta- tion. The object of John the Baptist is to show once more the infinite superiority of the Lord Jesus over himself or any other man. To all others, even to the most eminent prophets and apostles, God gives the Holy Spirit " by measure," Their gifts and graces are both imperfect. As St Paul says, they " know in part and prophesy in part." (1 Cor. xiii. 9.) But with Him whom Grod hath sent, it is very different. To Him the Holy Ghost is given without measure, in infinite fulness and complete- ness. In His human nature the gifts and graces of the Spirit are present without the sUghtest shadow of imperfection. As man, Jesus of Nazareth was anointed with the Holy Ghost, and fitted for His ofi&ce as our Priest, and Prophet, and King, in a way and degree never granted to any other man. (Acts x. 38.)
All this is undoubtedly true, but it is not, in my opinion, the whole truth of the sentence. I believe that John the Baptist points not only to our Lord's human nature but to His divinity. I believe his meaning to be, " He whom God hath sent, is One far above prophets and ministers, to whom the Spirit is only given by measure. He is One who is Himself very God. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. He is One who, as a Person in the Trinity, is eternally and ineffably united with God the Holy Spirit. From Him the Holy Spirit proceeds as well as from the Father, and is the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of the Son. As God, it is impossible that He can be separated from the Holy Spirit. To Him therefore the Spirit is not given by measure, as if He were only a man. He is God as well as man, and as such He needeth not that the Spirit should be given to Him. He has the Spirit without measure, because in the divine essence, He, and the Spirit, and the Father, are One, and undivided."
I am incHned to hold the view just stated, because of the verse which follows. The object cf John the Baptist, in this last testimony to Christ, appears to be to lead his disciples step by step to the highest view of Messiah's dignity. He would have them recognize in Him One who was very God as well as very man. The view of the sentence before us which is commonly adopted, appears to me of an unsafe tendency. That the Spirit was given to our Lord as man, and given without measure, is doubtless true. But we must be very careful that we never forget a truth of no less importance. That truth is, that our Lord Jesus Christ never ceased to be God as well as man, and that as God He was never separate from the Spirit, As Henry says, " The Spirit dwelt in Him, not as in a vessd, but as in a fountain, as iu a bottomless ocean."
It deserves remark, that the concluding words of the verse, " unto Him," are not found in the original Greek. This has led