In this part of St. John's history of Christ's suifer- ingg, three wonderful things stand out upon the surface of the narrative, lo these three let us confine our at- tention.
We should mark, for one thing, the amazing hard- ness of unconverted men. We see this in the conduct of the men by whom our Lord was taken prisoner. Some of them most probably were Roman soldiers, and some of them were Jewish servants of the priests and Pharisees. But in one respect they were all alike. Both parties saw our Lord's divine power exhibited, when they " went backward, and fell to the ground." Both saw a miracle, according to St. Luke's Gospel, when Jesus touched the ear of Malchus and healed him. Yet both remained unmoved, cold, indifferent and insensible, as if they had seen nothing out of tie common way. They went on coolly with their odious business. " They took Jesus, bound Him, and led Him away."
The degree of hardness and insensibility of con- science to which men may attain, when they live twen- ty or thirty years without the slightest contact with re- ligion, is something awful and appalling. God and the things of God seem to sink out of sight and disappear from the mind's eye. The world and the things of the world seem to absorb the whole attention. In such jases we may well believe miracles would produce little or no effect, as in the case before us. The eye would gaze on them, like the eye of a beast looking at a ro- mantic landscape, without any impression being made on the heart. He who thinks that seeing a miracle would convert him into a thorough Christian has got much to learn.
Let us not wonder if we see cases of hardness and unbelief in our own day and generation. Such cases will
JOHN, CHAP XViiL 225
continually be found among tho^se classes cf mankind, who from their profession or position are completely cut off from means of grace. Twenty or thirty years of total irreligion, without the influence of Sunday, Bible, or Christian teaching, will make a man's heart hard as the nether mill-stone. His conscience at latt will seem dead, buried, and gone. He will appear past feeling. Painful as these cases are, we must not think them peculiar to our own times. They existed under Christ's own eyes, and they will exist until Christ re- turns. The Church which allows any portion of a pop- ulation to grow up in practical heathenism, must never be surprised to see a rank crop of practical infidelity.
We should mark, for another thing, the amazing condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see the Son of God taken prisoner and led away bound like a inalefactor, — arraigned before wicked and unjust judges, — insulted and treated with contempt. And yet this unresisting prisoner had only to will His deliverance, and He would at once have been free. He had only to command the confusion of His enemies, and they would at once have been confounded. Above all He was One who knew full well that Annas and Caiaphas, and all their companions, would one day stand before His judg- ment seat and receive an eternal sentence. He knew all these things, and yet condescended to be treated as a malefactor without resisting.
One thing at any rate is very clear. The love of Christ to sinners is " a love that passeth knowledge." To suffer for those whom we love, and who are in some sense worthy of our affections, is suffering that we can understand. To submit t6 ill-treatment quietly, when we have no power to resist, is submission that is both gracf^ful and wise. But to suffer voluntarily, when we have the power to prevent it, and to suffer for a world
9,26 EXPOblTOKY THOUGHTS.
of unbelieving ana ungodly sinners, unasked and un- hanked, — this is a line of conduct which passes man's understanding. Never let us forget that this is the pe- culiar beauty of Christ's sufferings, when we read the wondrous story of His cross and passion. He was led away captive, and dragged before the High Priest's bar, not because He could not help Himself, but because He had set His whole heart on saving sinners, — by bear- ing their sins, by being treated as a sinner, and by be- ing punished in their stead. He was a willing prisoner, that we might be set free. He was willingly arraigned and condemned, that we might be absolved and declar- ed innocent. — "He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God." — " Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich." — " He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (1 Peter iii. 18 ; 2 Cor. viii. 9 ; v. 21.) Surely if there is any doctrine of the Gospel which needs to be clearly known, it is the doc- trine of Christ's voluntary substitution. He suffered and died willingly and unresistingly, because He knew that He had come to be our substitute, and by substitution to purchase our salvation.
We should mark, lastly, the amazmg degree of weak- ness that may he found in a real Christian,. We see this exemplified in a most striking manner, in the con- duct of the Apostle Peter. We see that famous disci- ple forsaking his Master, and acting like a coward, — running away when he ought to have stood by His side, — ashamed to own Him when he ought to have confess- ed Him, — and finally denying three times that He knew Him. And this takes place immediately after receiving the Lord's Supper — after hearing the most touching address and prayer that mortal ear ever heard — after