I feel no doubt in my own mind that this last is the coi- rect view. The use of the present tense, — " witnesseth,*' — is a strong proof of it. John the Baptist's testimony was a thing past and gone. — Our Lord declares that His Father had borne distinct testimony to Him, and supphed abundant evidence, if they, the Jews, would only receive it. And He adds, "his tes- timony is true." He will never bear witness to a lie. — Then having laid down this general proposition, He goes on to show the threefold testimony which God had provided : — first, John the Baptist; — secondly, the miracles which the Father had com- missioned Him to work ; — and, thirdly, the Scriptures.
The expression, " I know," probably imphes the deep con- sciousness which our Lord had, even in His humiUation, of His Father's perfect righteousness and truthfulness. It means much more than a mere man's " I know." " I know and have known from all eternity that my Father's testimony is perfect truth."
33. — [Ye sent unto John, etc.] In this sentence the word "ye " must be taken emphatically. It is " ye yourselves." The meaning of the verse seems to be, — " My first witness is John the Baptist. Now ye yourselves sent unto him at an early period of his min- istry, and ye know that he told you One greater than himself was coming, whose messenger he was, and that afterwards he said of Me, ' Behold the Lamb of God.' You cannot deny that he was a prophet indeed. Yet he bore faithful witness unto Me. He told you the truth."
There can be no doubt that our Lord refers to the formal mission of *' priests and Levites from Jerusalem " to John the Baptist, described in John i. 19.
34. — [But Ireceive not testimony from man, efc] This sentence seems meant to remind the Jews that they must not suppose our Lord depended either solely or chiefly on man's testimony. "Not that I would have you think I rest My claim to be received as the Messiah on the witness of John the Baptist, or of any other man. But I say these things about John and his witness to Me in order to remind you of what you heard him say, and that remembering his testimony to Me you may believe and be saved."
Here, as elsewhere, we should note how our Lord presses home on the Jews the inconsistency of admitting John the Baptist to be a prophet sent from God, while they refused to believe Him- self as the Messiah. If they believed John they ought in consis- tency to have believed Him. (See Matt. xxi. 23 — 27.)
35. — [He was a hu7ming.. .light] This is very high testimony to John. Doubtless he was not " the light," as Christ was. But still he was not an ordinary lamp lighted from above, as all true believers are. He was pre-eminently " the lamp,'* a lamp of