thought begun in the preceding verse, — tne unity of the Father and the Son. When we read the words, " The father loveth " and the "Father showeth," we must not for a moment suppose them to imply any superiority in the Father, or any inferiority in the Son, as to their Divine nature and essence. — The " love " is not the love of an earthly parent to a beloved child. The "sliowing" is not the showing of a teacher to an ignorant Bcbolar. The " love " is meant to show us that unspeakable unity of heart and affection (if such words may be reverently used) which eternally existed and exists between the Father and the Son. The "showing" means that entire confidence and co- operation which there was between the Father and the Son as to all the works which the Son should do when He came into the world, to fill the ofl&ce of Mediator, and to save sinners. — The "greater works,'' which remained to be shown, were evidently the works specified in the two following verse>;, — the works of quickening and of judging. That the Jews did "marvel," and were confounded at the works of "quickening," we know from the Acts of the Apostles. That they will "marvel" even more at our Lord's work of judgment we shall see when Christ comes again to jadge the heathen, to restore Jerusalem, to gather Israel, to convince the Jews of their unbelief, and to renew the face of the earth.
Both in this, and the preceding verse, we must carefully re- member the utter inability of any human language, or human ideas, to express perfectly such matters as our Lord is speaking of. Language is intended specially to express the things of man. It fails greatly when used to express things about God. In the expressions "seeth the Father do," — "loveth the Son," — "show- eth him all things," — " will show him greater works," — we must carefully bear this in mind. We must remember that they are expressions accommodated to our weaker capacities. They are intended to explain the relation between two divine Beings, who are one in essence, though two Persons, — cue in mind and will, though two in manifestation, — equal in all things as touch- ing the Grodhead, though the Son is inferior to the Father as touching His manhood. There must needs be immense difficulty in finding words to convey any idea of the relation between these two Ptrsons. Hence the language used by our Lord must be cautiously handled, with a constant recollection that we are not reading of an earthly father and son, but of God the Father and God the Son, who though one in essence as God, are at the same time two distinct Persons.
Augustine wisely remarks, " There are times when speech is deficient, even when the understanding is proficient. How much more doth speech suffer defect, when the understanding hath nothing perfect I "