dating Himself to the conventional language of the times, and that He did not really mean to assert His own belief either in the existence of Moses, or the autiiority of his writings, is to charge Him with downright dishonesty. It represents Him as One aiding and countenancing the dissemination of a he 1
To say, as some have done, that our Lord, born of a Jewish woman, and brought up among Jews, was not above the igno- rant prejudices of the Jews, ai:d did not really know that Moses ever existed, and that his writings are full of mistakes, is to talk downright blasphemy and nonsense. Fancy the eternal Son of God at any time talking ignorantly I Fancy above all that any trace of Jewish ignorance would be likely to be found in this chapter of St. John's gospel, in which, above all other chapters perhaps, our Lord's divine knowledge is most strikingly brought out !
47 — \If y& believe not his writings^ etc.] This verse is an extension of the thought contained in the preceding one, and a solemn and mournful conclusion of the whole address. There is evidently an intentional contrast between "writings" and 'Svords," as if our Lord would remind the Jews that " writings" are generally more relied upon than "sayings." — "If you do not really believe what your own honoured lawgiver Moses wrote, — and it is plain that you do not, — it is not likely that you will believe what I SAY. If you have no real faith in the things written in your Scriptures by that very Moses, for whom you profess such rever- ence, your favourite teacher and lawgiver, it is not to be wonder- ed at that you have no faith in what I say, and that I speak to you in vain."
The Greek word used here for "writings" is very remarkable. It is generally translated "letters," as Luke xxiii. 38. In 2 Tim. iii. 15, it is rendered " Scriptures." To my mind it is a strong indirect evidence in favour of the verbal inspiration of Scripture.
There is a sense in which these words should ring painfully in the ears of all the moiern assailants of the Mosaic writings. It is just as true now, I firmly believe, as it was eighteen hundred years ago. They cannot divide Moses and Christ. If they do not believe the one, they will find sooner or later that they do not believe the other. If they begin with casting oflf Moses and not believing his writings, they will find in the end that to be consistent they must cast off Christ. If they will not have the Old Testament, they will discover at last that they cannot have the New, The two are so linked together that they cannot be separated. "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder."
In concluding the notes on this wonderful chapter, one would