communication witli the family of Caiaplias, wlien le visited Jerusalem on business. All these, it must be confessed, are only conjectures ; and it is perhaps the safest to admit our ig- norance. Enough for us to read that the high priest knew John ; but why and how we cannot tell.
Hengstenberg suggests an explanation, which is so singular that 1 think it best to give it in his own words : " The charac- ter of John leads to the obvious supposition that his acquaint- ance with the high priest rested on religious grounds. Search- ing for goodly pearls, John had earlier sought from the liigh priest what, after the intervening ministry of the Baptist, he found in Christ. With what eyes he had formerly regarded the position of high priest, is shown by the fact that though a disciple of Christ, he nevertheless assigned to the word of the high priest a prophetic significance. (John xi. 51.) John, by his internally devout nature, had so attracted the good will of the high priest, that he did not wholly cast liim off even after he had gone over to the true High Priest. Nor had John en- tirely abandoned Caiaphas. Real love cannot be so easily root- ed from the heart ; and it is characteristic of John to retain a pious regard to earlier relations. In the love which hopeth all things, he might hope yet to win the hi xh priest to Christ." I make no comment on this extraordinary suggestion. I can- not see the slightest warrant for it ; but others, perhaps, who like the Athenians love new things, may see more in it than I can.
After all, it is only fair to remember that. Augustine, Ge- rhard, Calovius, Lightfoot, Lampe, and many others, think it quite uncertain who this disciple, " known to the high priest," was. Grotius and Poole think it may have been the master oi the house where Jesus had the Lord's Supper. Toletus thinks it was one of those to whom the garden belonged. Bengel thinks it was Nicodemus. One German commentator suggests tliat it was Judas Iscariot. Calvin thinks it most improbable that a proud high priest would have known so mean a person as a fisherman. Yet, singularly enough, Gualter and others lean strongly to the theory that John's business as a fisherman Tuay have made liim acquainted with the high priest. It cer- tainly is rather remarkable that when John was brought be- fore Annas and Caiaphas shortly after, they do not appear to have known much of him, except that he was unlearned and ignorant, and had been with Jesus. (Acts iii. 13.) The ques- tion, " who it was," is one which will probably never be set- tled.
[And went in with Jesus. ..palace. ..priest.] This sentence would seem to indicate that John went together with our Lord, either by His side, or in the crowd around Him, from the gar- den where He was taken, to the house of Annas and Caiaphas. VVf can hardly doubt that at first he fled, when we read, "All ^ors.>ok Him and fled '' but we must suppose that he soon